To the Edge of Light's Reach (Alternative Ending)
by Mechasix
Summary: How it all ends...With some devilishly quick thinking (and no small amount of luck), Lux managed to avert almost certain war, saving Runterra from a devastating conflict. She was a hero...but it had come at a price. With only her broken heart and haunted dreams for company, could she turn her back on her family and her country, everything she knew, for one last shot at happiness?
1. Authors Note

**AN: (warning – I may ramble slightly, don't read it all if you don't want to)**

Hiya,

Firstly a huge disclaimer: **I did not write the original story that this ending is based on**. **"To the Edge of Light's Reach" is a story written by /u/TheModernBard (not me).**

Ok, now that's out of the way, I will try and quickly explain what this is all about.

If you haven't read the original story then I highly recommend it – I'll try and link it somewhere, dunno if that even works, but if not just search it :) – You by no means have to have read the original in order to enjoy my ending, but it will definitely help you get the most out of it, and understand all of the references.

"To the Edge of Light's Reach" was the first fanfic I ever read on this site, and to this day is still by far my favourite. If I was going to talk about all the things that make it so great, I would probably go on for waaaaaay too long so I'll just say that it's great one more time. I really enjoyed reading it. It was funny, emotional, tense, tragic, and so many other things that you really just don't expect a fanfic to be -

Seriously? Why have you not gone to read it yet?

Any way you can imagine my disappointment when it never got finished. I waited patiently for years, checking in every so often and hoping that the final chapters would have been added. Sadly the ending I was waiting for never came and I lost hope that it ever would, so I decided to write the ending myself.

So that is basically what this is… a massive self-indulgence. A fan fiction of a fan fiction. Deep huh? I decided to write my own ending, mainly for myself, but also for anyone else who was as upset as I was that TheModernBard never got around to finishing the original. This is almost certainly not how he/she (assuming genders in 2017) would have chosen to end it, but I have tried hard to stay as true to the original as possible. Hopefully I succeeded :s

I wrote this all in like a week because I really wanted to get it out, so hopefully it doesn't feel too rushed.

Ok. That's everything I wanted to say I think? No more rambling.

If you read it then I really hope you enjoy! Any feedback you have is more than welcome :)

s/8401225/1/To-the-Edge-of-Light-s-Reach original


	2. Bitter Armistice

**ACT I: Bitter Armistice**

 _Dear Katarina Du Couteau, God that sounds so horribly formal… dearest Katarina…my Kat._

 _I don't know where to even begin. How I possibly hope to say all that needs to be said, after everything that's happened, all that we've been through! My whole life I have prided myself on my talent for words – to a flaw. You yourself accused me of hiding behind my eloquence, of wielding words like a particularly fine paintbrush – or a particularly sharp blade, and yet, as I sit to write this letter they slip through my fingers like liquid silver, elusive and intangible. When it comes to you, and to us, there are ill-sufficient words in all of Runterra and even in the darkness beyond it, for me to properly convey everything I feel. It is infuriating, not being able to articulate the chaos that is my head. No doubt the Gods are mocking me, I am condemned to play jailor to my own mind until what little sanity I still have has completely slipped away. It is a cruelly appropriate punishment given the exact nature of my wickedness, in another time – another life it might even have been funny, but humour and laughter are only a memory to me now._

 _I am not asking you to forgive me. Forgiveness would be far more than I deserve after everything that I have done to hurt you, but I would not be able to forgive myself if I did not at least attempt to explain. I owe you that, and for my own sanity I need you to understand why I did what I did, why I said what I said…_

 _Ok, well, here goes…_

 _I don't think Luxanna Crownguard has ever truly existed. For as long as I can remember I have been a prisoner of my name, of Demacia – 'the prestigious and noble Crownguards'…Even as a small girl I was under constant scrutiny from everyone, my parents, my teachers, the state, everyone constantly watching waiting for the tiniest slip up. You of all people can probably relate to this. Its suffocating, you feel scared to breathe, scared to live for fear of bringing shame on the family. I never had any friends, I barely spoke to anyone at all other than my parents, my brother and my tutors. I was like their doll, to dress up and parade about as they wished, the perfect poster child of Demacia, never speak, never question, never think…After a while I started believing it all, I didn't know anything else, and eventually I became completely dependent on it. I clung to the mask my family had created for me because I was scared to find out who I was without it, scared to face the lonely empty girl buried deep beneath all the lies._

 _So I did what I was told, I played the part and became who they wanted me to become. I craved my parent's approval, I heard the way they spoke about Garen, how proud they were, and was desperate for them to notice me, to realise that I was more than just their daughter. Everything I ever did was in an effort to earn their respect. All the energy I poured into perfecting my magic was to impress them. All the tedious hours spent in class, and the even more tedious hours spent feigning interest while pompous old men drawled in my ear. Every sweet smile, every false laugh, every charming word, every lonely tear, every single breath; It was all for them._

 _And they sent me away. The second I was old enough it was off to join the military. I never got their pride, I never ever got their sorrow, they didn't spill a single tear as they waved me away into the real world, with nothing but my mask, the girl they had invented, and my stolen childhood, to protect me. That was the lowest I had ever been, the loneliest I had ever been. I had to work twice as hard as anyone else because of who I was and where I'd come from and still most people only saw me as the ditsy little rich girl, they thought there was no more to me than my face and my parent's money. In the military Demacia was my only friend, the only one I could rely on, and the only one that would protect me. I convinced myself that all the pain and sadness that I felt was the least I could give in service of my country. Demacia was my everything, it was my sole purpose; the King was my God and The Measured Tread was my Bible – I can't tell you how many times I must have read that fucking book…_

 _I excelled. I served Demacia tirelessly, following my orders inexorably and without question. I was the perfect little patriot, I had truly become the Golden child of Demacia that my parents had so desperately wanted me to be. I hate how easily I swallowed all the self-righteous propaganda bullshit. I fucking welcomed it, I craved it! I was vulnerable, broken hearted and lost, and I clung to the one thing I had to that could give my life some hollow meaning._

 _So when I first learned of Garen's supposed treachery and the fate that awaited him, I was shocked, I even looked down on him for turning his back on his duty, I didn't even question. I could comprehend why he would risk everything, risk his family and his homeland, for a Noxian. The Demacian world, the values we are force fed every second of our lives, is a world of black and white, a world of good and evil. I hated Garen for forsaking Demacia and our family – but I also loved him, he was the closest thing I had ever had to a friend, he had looked after me and loved me when no one else had, I was not going to let him die._

 _I begged them to reconsider, and persuaded them to let me fix his mess. my reasons were not entirely selfless. If Garen's crimes were made public, my family would have been ruined, we would be a disgrace to Demacia and without my family, without Demacia I was nothing. That scared me more than anything, I could not bear to lose my mask, to confront the emptiness within…A part of me also was hungry for the chance to finally prove myself, to show the world that I was better than Garen, that I could do what he could not, that I could succeed where the Might of Demacia had faltered. My instructions were clear. They told me it was his life or yours and it was a simple choice…it should have been simple…_

 _But then I met you and everything went wrong…It was like being born again, like opening my eyes for the very first time. It was utterly terrifying, I had all these thoughts and ideas that weren't pulled directly from 'A measured Tread', I felt things I had never felt before, I wanted things I hadn't even known existed. Suddenly it wasn't simple anymore, it was quite the opposite, it was impossible. I didn't know who I was until I met you, when we were together I didn't have to act, I didn't want to hide. Suddenly my character was crumbling around me, years of carefully and meticulously crafted defences, you brushed my mask away as easily and as gently as if you were simply brushing a strand of hair from my face. I was finally living my life without being told what to do and think and feel, it was intoxicating, I never wanted it to end. But I knew it had to end…I had to kill you. Somehow I had to kill the person I loved - Because I did love you Kat, I loved you more than air – I had to kill you or lose everything._

 _You know what happened after that…It drove me insane, I couldn't think, couldn't find a way out. There was no way out. I wasn't strong enough, not brave enough to listen to my heart, to risk everything for one person who had made me happier than any other, the woman I so desperately wanted but could never have. I convinced myself that my Country, my family, were more important than my own foolish fantasy. I made my awful choice, I had to kill you – I tried to kill you and I lost you forever, the single best thing I had ever known… and I couldn't even get that right. I couldn't do it. I had failed everyone, my country, my brother, myself, but above all else, I had failed you. That was truly the lowest I have ever been._

 _When we fought in the forest I swore to myself that this time I would not fail. I unleashed a lifetimes worth of rage, injustice, pain and loneliness that I had never been allowed to feel. I let it fester and feed like a great surging, spiralling vortex of fire, and then I directed it all down upon you. But the more I tried to hurt you I realised that every blow, every hateful word, was tearing my own heart to pieces. I could never hurt you. I could never kill you. You were in my each and every breath, in every beat of my icy heart; you had filled my very soul. I finally understood who I was. I would not let you die, not for anything in the world._

 _In the end I got miraculously lucky. I took a huge risk and by some miracle, we all came out alive, we had prevented a war._

 _I had everything I had prayed for but it felt like I had lost everything. And I had lost everything, I had lost you. To have known you, to have been so blissfully close to you, even for such a short time and then to suddenly know that I would likely never see you again, or hear your voice, or hold you in my arms – It was like having my heart torn out. I can feel your burning hatred for me, I can feel it no matter how far away you might be, and it is agony. A world where you hate me, or worse, a world where you feel nothing for me at all, where you don't even remember my name, is a world entirely without light._

 _That is why I am writing this. Not out of some foolish hope that it might change your feelings for me in the slightest. Not in some self-indulgent attempt to ease my own conscience so that I can go back to my old life. But because I need you to know that I love you. I have told more lies in my short life than I could possibly count, my whole life in itself has been one great lie, but my time with you, and my feelings for you were the truest thing I will likely ever know. The first time I laid eyes on you, I could think of nothing else, it almost hurt to look at you, like staring into the sun, your image is burned forever in my eyes. Your enchantingly beautiful, witty and intelligent, strong and loyal, and tender – and… Noxian…and furious, and cold, and hurt, and terrifying - and I love everything about you. My hopeless wasted heart will probably love you just the same until my final breath._

 _I know that I will never see you again. I have made my peace with that. I'm leaving today, a boat is leaving at dusk and I will be on it, I don't know where I'll go or what I'll do, all I know is I will never look back. Katarina, knowing you – loving you, nothing will ever be the same again. You electrified me, you charmed me, you chilled me to the bone, you set me on fire, you stole my breath, and you stole my heart, you shattered me into a million tiny pieces and – and I wouldn't have changed a second. Thank you, thank you so much. It was the hardest and happiest times I will ever know. You made me who I am and I will never go back._

 _Have a good life; I hope you find happiness in someone that has the strength that I could not. Thank you again, I love you._

 _Yours forever,_

 _Luxanna_

Lux reread her rushed, sprawling words one final time. It felt like the hundredth time, and her eyes blazed brilliantly, fighting back the shimmering wall of tears that had crept up on her once more. She forced herself to look away, carefully folding the sheaf of parchment into a neat rectangle before slipping inside an envelope. The envelope had a single word neatly printed on its front in large looping letters. 'Katarina'. Lux raised the envelope up, briefly brushing it against her lips, for a fraction of a second her eyes flitted shut and she was completely still…then she shook herself resolutely and slid the letter delicately back inside her pocket. She needed to focus, just for a short while longer. There was still a job to be done.

Several months had passed and, despite the misery she felt her plan had worked more perfectly than she could ever have dreamt that it would. Her greatest misdirection ever, she promised herself every day that it would be her last. It had fooled everyone. Katarina was alive. Garen was alive. What's more she had prevented a war, ended it without a drop of blood being spilt. Both nations had jumped at the opportunity to escape the inexorably approaching conflict. Gnarled, stony faced leaders from Noxus and Demacia alike had made a great pretence of grudgingly signing the peace treaty, but had sighed with relief the second they were back behind closed doors.

It was a sigh of relief that had echoed about the entire land. The people of Runterra making no mistake of just how close they had come to war, a war that would have torn the continent into shreds. There was a special kind of tension in the air. Hostilities between Noxus and Demacia were still perilously high, it was a sizzling volcano about to erupt, they may have narrowly avoided it once but it was only a matter of time before it all came to a head once more. It was only too evident in people's behaviour. Even here in Noxus, as Lux watched the swarms of people going about their business in the market below, there was a palpable strain in the air. They were a little too casual, trying slightly too hard to act normal, falsely bright and cheerful. Everyone was determined to enjoy a little normality while they still could; war loomed heavy in the air like an approaching storm. They were a people who knew they were living on borrowed time.

Lux knew all this. Part of her even wondered whether she hadn't made it all worse, delaying the inevitable, only prolonging peoples suffering, pushing the tensions to all new levels. The truth, however was that she didn't care. She would have nothing to do with it, that part of her life was behind her. She knew all too well what Noxus and Demacia and there constant bitter feuding did to people lives – Let them go to war, she thought, let them wipe each other out, it was time for a change. It always made her feel slightly better to know just how shocked her family, even her old self, would have been if they could hear the treacherous thoughts now rattling about her head. She might finally have achieved what she had been warned about her entire life and become a disgrace to her family name. Here she was lurking on a rooftop in the middle of Noxus after all.

Lux shivered involuntarily, pulling her jacket closer about her shimmering transparent body. Despite her new found liberal philosophies, just being in Noxus still made her feel decidedly uneasy. Invisible or not, she felt incredibly vulnerable just sat here waiting, out in the open on this crumbling stone rooftop. Her watchful blue eyes scoured the throngs of people below, searching for an upturned face, the glint of a sword, any small sign that her position might have been compromised.

She had taken a huge chance in coming here, when she was so tantalisingly close to her freedom, but she would never have risked delivering her letter by any other means. This was the only way to ensure it fell into Katarina's hands and hers alone, Lux was sure of that much, but that did not stop her worrying. To be caught now, here, skulking around Noxus, was unthinkable. To them she was still a Demacian, still a Crownguard, and it would be seen as an unprovoked act of aggression, they would surely think that she was a spy, her capture might even be the spark that ignited the war. She could not – would not let that happen.

No one was going to catch her. The hardest part was already behind her, easily slipping undetected into very heart of Noxus Prime, espionage and reconnaissance was after all, her area of expertise although she had hoped her sneaking days were behind her. The sky was dark despite it being an almost perfect summer's day, thick dark smoke hung about the city, spewing from countless towering chimney stacks and whipped into a frenzied haze by the ocean winds. Lux was beginning to become concerned that this might give her away, some vigilant soul down in the market would notice the smog curling peculiarly around her otherwise unseen body and raise the alarm. Before her concern had a chance to develop into a fully-fledged paranoia however, she was distracted, a movement on the far side of the square drawing her eye.

At first she thought she was mistaken, that the heavy fumes were addling her mind and she was seeing things but then she saw it again; A flash of red, a twirl of unmistakable crimson hair. Lux stifled a gasp; she would have known that hair anywhere. Silently the mage rolled forwards into a crouching position, before beginning to edge along the rooftop in search of a better view, her breathing had become very fast. She sidled past a window that was covered in iron bars, and dodged between two chimneys, all the while keeping one eye of the crowd below. She vaulted a low wall, fell through the air and landed lightly on a section of flat roof below, she ran to the very edge and then suddenly, there she was. Lux skidded to a halt but her heart seemed to continue on, leaping inside her chest, as she stared with wide eyes at the familiar figure now making their way towards her.

Katarina looked as fierce and as radiant as ever, her blazing hair streaking out behind her as she shunted a path through the dense crowds. Even the biggest, most brutish looking men, shrunk out of her way as she approached, such was the terrifying glint in her eyes and the sheer force of her reputation. More than one pair of eyes glanced warily at the razor sharp daggers that glinted from her belts. She strode quickly and purposely across the market, a blur of rippling black leather, pearly white skin, and blood red hair.

Watching unseen from the rooftops, Lux was slightly unnerved. Scarcely a day, or even an hour, had passed since their last meeting where the redhead had not been prominent in Lux's mind, and yet she had somehow forgotten quite how strikingly beautiful the other woman was in the flesh. Her memories did not even began to do justice to Katarina's full grace and elegance, her perfect body, the shimmering danger of her jade eyes and the warm allure of her smile. Lux was suddenly quite breathless, her heart was pounding a furious tattoo against her chest and pale skin was prickling uncomfortably. Months of repressed emotion coursed through her slight frame, threatening to overpower her completely and for the first time, she had doubts.

Just seeing the other woman again was enough to set Lux's mind racing. Was this really the right thing to do? Katarina did not look much like the vulnerable, lonely, compassionate girl that Lux had known at the institute, the girl that had so desperately sought companionship and love in her sworn enemy. No, she looked different, she looked older. There was a gaunt, almost haunted look in the depths of her eyes, and her expression was hard and cold. There was an arrogance to the way she held herself, an unwavering confidence in her own ability. She struck an imposing figure, formidable, terrifying. Lux was not looking at her Kat anymore, this was the famed sinister blade, the assassin whose name struck an icy fear through the hearts of Demacians everywhere, whose name whispered death in the ears of her enemies. She was back on her territory, back amongst her people. This was Noxian heartland and it was her home, this was who she was supposed to be.

'Supposed to be'. Lux hated herself for even thinking such a phrase. She had spent her entire life trying to be who she was 'supposed to be' and it had brought her nothing but emptiness. Katarina and her were never 'supposed' to find each other. They were bitter enemies! Polar opposites! The Demacian and the Noxian, the light and the shadow - but they were so similar. Their two lives had run almost completely parallel, like two beams of light, identical in every way except each a different colour, they had never been supposed to meet but they had been twisted together by fate and, together, they had become something more powerful, more beautiful than they could ever be alone.

Her blue eyes shone with defiance. That was who she wanted to be! That was who she was! It wasn't for the world to decided who her or Katarina were 'supposed' to be or what lives they must lead. That was a decision far greater than any of them, greater than Noxus or Demacia, greater than the universe. They were who they were; there was nothing to be gained and everything to be lost from denying who they truly were deep down. They loved each other. Lux gave a huge sigh, her shoulders drooped. As quickly as her flash of defiance had come, it drained away. She was too late, this was all too late, she had already fucked everything up.

Katarina was so close now that Lux could clearly see her face. She felt a great emptiness take hold, she wanted to weep for her, for the woman she loved was surely hidden deep behind that steely mask, afraid and alone, possibly never to be seen again. Lux was heartbroken, disgusted and angry with herself, it was all her fault. Kat had let down her defences, bared her soul to her only for Lux to tear it apart with her lies, her deceit and her treachery and Lux knew with a sickening certainty that the other woman would never make that mistake again. The rest of her life she would be isolated and lonely, hiding behind her violent work, unable to love or to be loved, all because of Lux, because she had been naïve enough and stupid enough to listen to her countries lies, above her own desperate heart.

The red head had reached the edge of the square and was walking briskly past, cutting into a small alleyway, blissfully ignorant to the highly distressed woman standing only a short distance above her. Lux was an emotional wreck, almost paralyzed by the weight of her guilt and her misery. In that moment she came close to turning and running away, forgetting her plans and getting as far away from this place as she could. She had not known just how painful it would be… to be this close again…so close she could have almost reached out and touched her, but to know that she would never touch her ever again – never hold her again. It took every ounce of Lux's will power to move her feet, it felt like walking through water or through snow, every step was more exhausting than the last, but slowly, painfully slowly, she set off after the other woman.

For several miles they walked in wordless unison, Katarina marching down alleyway after street after alleyway, completely unaware of Lux scampering across the rooftops high above like some dancing ethereal shadow. Lux had managed to lose herself in the focus of her task, her brain fixated on navigating the treacherous Noxian skyline, shutting out all the despair that threatened to weigh her down. Eventually, when they had passed enough characterless stone buildings to tire even the most passionate of stone enthusiasts, they arrived at their destination.

Katarina stopped walking and turned in at a small, ordinary looking gate. She walked quickly up the path and paused in front of a heavy wooden door, her hands fumbling for a moment at her hip before producing a small silver key. The key slid easily into the lock and the red head gave the smallest of glances up and down the street before disappearing inside, the door slamming shut behind her.

The building she had entered was a narrow, but tall townhouse, exceptionally plain, and made from the same cold grey stone as every other building in this blasted city. Lux was moderately surprised, she had of course considered the possibility that Katarina would not be staying at the Du Couteau mansion, especially given current circumstances, but it was a shock none the less to see a woman as important as Katarina holed up in such a modest building. The golden haired mage was almost disappointed, even if it would have made her task considerably more difficult, there had been a strange allure in the idea of seeing the place where Katarina had grown up. The house where she had grown into the remarkable woman she was today.

Lux waited as long as she could bear, making sure that Katarina didn't suddenly re-emerge onto the street. When she was finally satisfied that the assassin was staying put, she sprung quickly into action. Before she could think about what she was doing she had leapt over the precipice of the roof, hanging briefly in the air before plummeting towards the street below. She savoured the sensation, the tingling ecstasy of falling, before, slightly reluctantly, muttering a spell under her breath. The spell gracefully caught her fall, allowing her to hop the short distance down onto the pavement without so much as a sore ankle.

Unlike the heaving market, there was barely a soul in sight, the street was quiet, and the few people walking up and down kept their heads down and their strides quick. None of them noticed the tiny warping in the light as Lux, still shrouded by her spell, dashed across the street and up the path to Katarina's house. She did not waste time, did not give herself a second to question her actions. She produced her letter, blue eyes lingering for a moment on the name she had written on it, the single word that meant so much more, before leaning up and easing it through the metal letter box, as quietly as her shaking fingers would allow. She waited several precious seconds to hear the letter flutter gently to the floor, and then she immediately turned on her heel and began to walk away. Tears were stinging her cerulean eyes once more but she did not look back. She gritted her white teeth with determination, struggling to clear her mind. There was a long journey ahead of her. Quickly she walked away, a rare slither of sunlight, fighting through the smog and catching in her golden hair.


	3. Demacia, Now and Forever

**Act II: "Demacia, Now and Forever"**

On the other side of Runterra, that same sun shone down unimpeded on the sprawling white metropolis of Demacia. Deep in the heart of the city, the Grand Plaza was unusually quiet. It was the height of midday, the sun was at its peak and most people had retreated indoors to stay cool. Garen's lengthy strides carried him quickly across the plaza, several members of the public watching in awe as he passed. This was not unusual. His huge stature, along with the gleaming armour and broad sword hanging on his back he was anything but inconspicuous. Combine that with him being the pride of the Demacian military, and it meant that he was well used to the staring.

He waved cheerfully back at them (sending an old woman swooning back into the arms of her husband), for what reason did he have to not be cheerful. It was a beautiful summer's day, they were at peace, he was in good health and so were his family, all was good in the world. Thinking of his family, he began to wonder vaguely where Lux was. It had been several days since he had last seen his younger sister and there had definitely been something amiss with her. She had always been the one with a talent for reading people, but it was obvious even to him that she was not her usual luminescent self. His thoughts were interrupted however, as he arrived at his destination, his mind turning to focus on more pressing matters. Lux could look after herself.

He had not been surprised when he had received this particular summons, although the nature of it did strike him as unusual. This was no war cabinet, no official meeting of the King's loyal advisors as was so often the case when he was summoned to court. The man he was meeting wasn't even someone he knew, it was a lord in King JarvenIII's court that he knew only by name. Lord Harrigon. To Garen he was an unknown quantity, and that in itself was strange, for his family had been at the heart of the Demacian nobility for ever. If he wasn't acquainted with someone that usually meant that they weren't important enough, and yet this man was a lord, outranked only by the King himself and now for whatever reason he had specifically sought out Garen. There was a distinctly underhanded air about the whole thing; the mysterious, deliberately vague letter of summons; the obscure location of the meeting; and then this enigmatic Lord himself…It was against his better judgment that he was even here now, he should really have brought it up with the King himself, should have made sure it was all legitimate, but in the end his curiosity had won out.

He walked quickly up a short flight of steps, brushing down his armour as he went and running a smoothing hand across his tousled brown hair. He squinted as he moved out of the bright sunlight, passing through a huge archway and into the dark. He paused for a moment as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, looking about him with interest; he had never seen this building before. It was a cavernous atrium, simple and magnificent all at once, crafted largely out of the pure white marble that the city was famous for. Towering pillars ran the length of the building, stretching up so far that their tops were hidden in darkness. The only light came from small stained-glass windows, which were set high in the polished walls, sending great arcs of iridescent light crisscrossing the room. For a brief moment Garen utterly forgot his purpose, rapturous as his dark eyes drank in every detail of this strange, wonderful building. Then his eyes fell upon a pair of dark figures standing, deep in conference, in the shadow of the nearest pillar. He blinked, remembering why he was there, before smiling and striding purposefully across the room towards them.

His handsome face danced in and out of the light as he approached, like the subject of a particularly ancient reel of film, black then white, black then white, black than white, his footsteps rang like gunshots in the aching emptiness of the hall. They turned to face him and one man strode forwards and grasped him firmly by the hand.

"Captain! You made it!" He exclaimed, apparently with great enthusiasm, "We've never met, my name is Lord Harrigon."

"A pleasure my Lord." Garen replied, going into a steep bow (he still towered over the other man) before straightening and getting his first proper look at his superior.

He was an old man, about the age of Garen's father, his face was wrinkled and leathery, his features deep set, and there wasn't a single hair on his domed head. His eyes, however glinted like those of a young man, and they were fixed sharply on Garen, no doubt appraising him in return. He wore a simple yet expensively made tunic with a flowing cape of royal Demacian blue. Garen did not miss the insignia pinned to his chest, the royal crest. So he was a Lord then, Garen thought, that or he had murdered one and stolen his clothes…

"You are probably wondering why I called you here today, why all this secrecy." Lord Harrigon broke the silence. Garen noticed that the second man had shrunk back into the shadows, clearly in no hurry to introduce himself, he wore hooded robes of deep purple, and his face was almost completely hidden, but Garen got the feeling he was watching the exchange with keen interest.

"Yes, I must admit I was rather curious." Garen said without taking his eyes of the second man. "I would assume it has something to do with the war?" The old lord considered his response carefully.

"Well, yes I suppose… yes and no. You see – it's regrettable that we must meet under these circumstances; I've always had huge respect for the Crownguards – it is a somewhat…delicate matter." He finished, rambling slightly; he seemed unsure how to proceed. Garens eyes snapped back to him, a frown settling across his brow, alarm bells ringing inside his head.

"Delicate in what sense?" He asked quickly. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped suddenly and he had to fight to keep himself from shivering. The old man looked briefly at his companion before reluctantly meeting Garen's eye.

"It's unfortunate…" He said again, he sighed heavily before continuing, "We are at war Captain. Make no mistake, this 'pantomime peace' might help the public sleep a little easier in their beds at night, but you and I both know that we are at war. For the moment our swords may be sheathed, and our guns may lie silent, but our enemy remains very much alive and whilst they breathe we shall never be truly at peace. We need to be strong! We need to be prepared! You can be damn sure those Noxian dogs will be!" He paused for breath, letting his words settle.

"Quite true, but I already know all this sir." Garen was thoroughly confused, "what does this have to-

"WE CANNOT. AFFORD. TO BE WEAK." Lord Harrigon burst out without warning, flecks of spittle flying from his mouth, a hand raised for silence. His eyes were bulging madly and he was purple in the face. Garen stared at him dumbfounded, his measure of the man had been entirely wrong, until a minute ago he had been quite pleasant, but now…now he was teetering on the edge of unhinged. His shout still reverberated around the huge empty chamber, rushing like a physical force, finding every last shadowed corner. The old man took several deep, rattling breaths, calming himself before continuing, his voice even once more.

"We cannot afford to be weak." He repeated quietly. Garen made as if to talk but he stopped as the other man's hand flew into the air once more. "In times like these we must be united, like one body, all pulling together in one clear direction. For that direction, we look to our King, and in return our King looks to us, to his nobles, for strength and support. When the King cannot rely on his nobles - his most trusted supporters, the very pillars of our proud society – when he can no longer rely on them…that is what makes us weak. THAT IS WHEN WE LOSE." He finished, his voice shaking with rage. Garen simply stared at him, open mouthed.

"I hope you are not implying…" Garen began, before Lord Harrington cut him off again.

"Oh, I am more than implying, Captain." He snapped. Garen could not believe what he was hearing. "The Crownguards are the very definition of nobility. You and your family have been given every privilege, every opportunity, every reprieve, and yet you continue to disobey and disrespect the crown. Jarven has been exceptionally lenient with you, he's given you every chance, often against the advice and will of the council, but enough is enough."

"How dare you." Garen uttered furiously, his voice dangerously low. His huge fists were clenched, he closed the gap between them in one stride, glaring down at the other man. "You dare accuse me of disloyalty? I have been the King's – Demacia's, most faithful servant, I would die for my country a thousand times over before I would betray her. This is an outrage, the King will hear about this!" He spat and made to turn and walk away.

"On whose orders do you think I am here, you foolish boy." Garen span around despite himself, he didn't believe a word this little man was saying.

"And I suppose I'm to believe the King has ordered this himself? I would be a fool to believe that. Tell me, why they would send you to tell me then, some doddering nobody I've never even heard of." He said, he expected his words to be met with anger, he was braced for more shouting, but it never came. The other man was strangely passive.

"It is exactly because you don't know me, that I was given this grim task." He sighed, "Despite your shortcomings, it is undeniable that you are popular. Many of the other Lords, even the king himself, are… close with you, it would have been short-sighted to send someone who could become… emotionally involved. Therefore…" He waved his arms, gesturing at himself, "I am here."

"I don't believe you." Garen lied, but his voice gave him away, there was certainly logic in the old man's words. He changed tact, his temper flaring once more.

"Even if what you are saying is true," he began sceptically, "There is still no weight to your accusation, none whatsoever. Am I supposed to just submit myself quietly to imprisonment, to the executioner's block? Based on what, the word of a man I have never met? No I'm afraid you are gravely mistaken. I will speak to the King myself and put all this ridiculousness to bed. Good day to you." He spun on his heel, and made for the gaping sunlight at the end of the room. He was half way there before Lord Harrigon spoke again.

"Lux." Lord Harrigon said quietly, he had followed Garen down the room, stepping out of the shadows into a patch of sunlight; his face was bathed in an eerie bluish glow that highlighted every crack and line on his aged skin. He looked almost skeletal. He spoke just loud enough that there could be no mistaking what he had said. The single word rushed after Garen's retreating form, slithering tightly around his legs like vines and rooting him to the spot. The huge man was deadly still, listening intently. "It's Lux." Lord Harrigon said again.

"Lu-Luxanna?" Garen said, grudgingly facing the old man, a great sense of dread creeping over him. "What about Lux?" He said his voice unsteady.

"It is she who is the traitor, not you." Harrigon said, his words hung horribly in the air.

"That's not possible." Garen said, his voice was barely a whisper. "There must be some mistake. Luxanna has nothing to do with any of this; it is all some nonsense from ages ago, about me and Katarina Du Couteau…" He trailed off, realising too late, what he had just admitted. Surely that's what this was? Just a trap, meant to bait him into confessing, Lux had done nothing wrong., had she?

"I'm afraid not Captain. Your mistakes were grave, but I believe they were unwitting. You were certainly foolish… naïve even. Led astray by your lust and – No I don't care for your excuses." He said, waving away the outraged look of denial on Garen's face. "It is your sister, the Lady of Luminosity, who has knowingly betrayed Demacia; it is she who is beyond forgiveness." The old man shook his said sadly.

Garen was open-mouthed, he was broken, his anger had been replaced with blank disbelief. His eyes were wide and fearful, staring intently at Lord Harrigon, like a naughty child before their teacher, waiting to find out what punishment they would face.

"Wha-what is she supposed to have done?" He asked, his voice trembling uncontrollably. The other man considered him carefully for a moment.

"I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you now…You were supposed to be executed." He ignored Garens gasp of shock. "After the Sinister Blade had bested you yet again, after countless opportunities and second chances, it was abhorrently clear that you were under her spell – No don't deny it! – You were completely within her power. Execution was the obvious solution, we could not risk you being turned completely, you knew too much. Can you imagine the prize you must have seemed to the Noxian high command if you had turned traitor or spy?"

"Then why am I still alive?" Garen said weakly, he feared that he already knew the answer.

"Lux." The old man said simply, confirming Garens worst fears. He felt like he was about to throw up. His mind felt like it was about to explode as it tried to reconcile this new information with the events of recent months. Every little thing that had happened, starting with Lux's judgment, right up until he had found her unconscious form in the forests outside his camp. It was like being given the last, crucial piece of a puzzle and suddenly, dreadfully, everything became crystal clear. All of Lux's strange behaviour, their forced conversations, everything…The guilt threatened to overpower him. It washed over his body like great waves of icy water. Lord Harrigon continued talking, unaware of the upheaval his words had created In Garen's mind. He paced back and forth in front of Garen, his old hands clasped behind his back.

"Yes, Lady Luxanna somehow managed to persuade the King to spare you, and he did – not without a price however! He spared you from the executioners block on the sole condition that Lux herself would find the Du Couteau witch, find her, and eliminate her."

"Sh-s-she did that to protect me?" Garen said. There were white hot tears leaking uncontrollably from his hazel eyes.

"Yes she did. But do not weep for her boy. Her words were as empty as your head." The old man smoothed his cloak uncomfortably. "Report after report came back to us, but still the Sinister Blade lived, and despite Lux's delicate reassurances – she certainly has a way with words your sister – our suspicions were aroused. We knew that something was wrong. Her task was taking far too long. When we learned that Lux's most recent attempt had left the Noxian breathing, injured but still very much alive, we had to act. She was recalled, the King himself demanded answers of her and again she tiptoed skilfully around her own failings, again she persuaded him for another chance." The old man paused and an unbearable silence filled the room, Garen seized his opportunity.

"But surely this does not make her a traitor?" He demanded, "Even the best falter occasionally, you would brand her a traitor just for failing?"

"No. To fail once is not treason, but we must ask the question; why did Lux fail? How is it that she got close enough to gravely injure her target but did not finish the job? How in all her time at the institute, when she had supposedly won the Noxian's trust, did other opportunities not present themselves? How, when the two met again in the forests beyond your camp did both women, both highly trained killers, walk away from the scene alive? These, I'm afraid, are the questions that condemn your sister…"

"It is just unfortunate coincidence surely; you cannot condemn a person for poor luck. That is no justice." Garen said desperately.

"No, we thought much along the same lines. As unlikely as it seemed, it was entirely possible that young Lux was merely a victim of disastrous circumstance. So we investigated." Lord Harrigon said, watching Garen very closely. "We have been investigating ever since her most recent failure in the forest, and only this last week have we managed to unearth the whole disturbing truth." He began his pacing again.

"Lux's plan had been to get close to the Noxian, close enough that she could complete her mission without raising suspicion. This was about the only thing she succeeded in. The two did become close…far too close in fact. They became… friends (he spat the word as though disgusted by the mere notion), and with every second Lux spent in the company of that devil, she slipped further and further away from us until she was lost entirely –

"How do you possibly know all this?" Garen said incredulously.

"That is not your concern, although I assure you, it is all true." He replied. "Lux never wanted to kill Katarina. She had one pathetic effort and lost her nerve, she ended up saving the Sinister Blade from her own attack! After that not only did she not try to kill her again but she actually protected the Noxian, nursed her back to health! The woman was entirely at her mercy and she let her live, she disobeyed direct orders! She chose that Noxian dog's life over yours!" The old man's voice dripped with disgust and contempt. "We could hardly believe it... Two Crownguards, two of our military's brightest talents, had fallen prey to exactly the same thing! Lux, like her brother before her, had succumbed to whatever heinous deceitful charm this woman must have. She betrayed Demacia and her King, she betrayed her family, and it cannot be allowed to continue." Garen was getting desperate, with every accusation he could feel Lux slipping further and further beyond his reach, his sister was on the edge of some black abyss from which he could not save her.

"It is not true." He was almost shouting, panic edging into his usually calm voice. "We must bring her in, we must talk to her… let me talk to her. I know her, she would never willingly hurt Demacia. There must be something else…something you've missed." The old man shook his head, looking at Garen with sad, cold eyes.

"We are well beyond that I'm afraid, Captain. This very day our soldiers tracked her to the edge of the Noxian border. At this moment she is in the heart of enemy territory doing God only knows what…This must end today. We will not lose this war, because of the actions of one foolish, duplicitous girl." Lord Harrigon turned away, unable to meet Garens eye. These last words had hit Garen like a punch in the stomach; he could barely breathe as their full meaning sunk in, they were going to kill her…

"P-please…" He whispered desperately, suddenly reaching out and grabbing the other man's arm, turning him forcefully around so their eyes met. "There must be another way…" His voice was cracking like glass under the weight of his emotions. "Please, you can't kill her…" He pleaded. The old man pulled his arm away looking appalled.

"No…We won't kill her." Garen was pulled, momentarily from his downward spiral of despair, his heart lifted ever so slightly. He was listening intently now, waiting with bated breath. "You, will be the one to kill her." The old man said coldly. For a second Garen thought that he had misheard, he prayed that he had misheard.

"What?" He said, staring wildly at his superior.

"Luxanna will die by your hand." He said again very slowly and this time Garen knew there had been no mistake. His head was pounding, his mind filled with angry white noise, his ears filled with the rush of his own furious blood. He would kill Lux? HE WOULD KILL LUX? His breathing became heavier and more erratic as the full weight of those words hit him, the anger he had been fighting so adamantly against finally broke free, and it spread through his body like wild, raging fire until he was consumed by it. He was shaking from head to foot. He wanted to crush this tiny man that stood before him, until he was nothing but dust. He needed him to feel this pain, he didn't care what happened anymore, he didn't who this man was, or whose orders he was following. He would silence him.

In a sudden blur of movement Garen lunged forwards, he swung one hammer like fist upwards and it cracked against the old man's skull. Lard Harrigon crumpled under the blow, falling limply to the cold marble floor. Garen's other hand reached over his shoulder for the hilt of his sword, and it rang like a church bell as he tore it from its sheath, in the same sweeping movement he brought it crashing down, slicing through the air towards the heap of a man at his feet. Time seemed to slow right down, almost to a halt, his brown eyes gleamed as the razor sharp blade whistled ever closer to the man's bald scalp, Lord Harrigon whimpered beneath him as death screamed down upon him.

And then, everything happened all at once. Garen's blade, mere inches from soft flesh and brittle old bone, froze, as completely and as suddenly as though it had met an invisible, impenetrable shield. Pain seared through his body, his arm felt like might be wrenched from its socket by the force. At the same time he heard a stampede of running footsteps from somewhere behind him, boots squeaking on the polished floor, armour clattering. Desperately Garen tried to move his arm, to finish what he started, if he was going to die he would take this hateful man with him, but as hard as he tried his arm would not budge.

He stared wildly around, trying to understand what was happening, why he could not move. The man in the purple robes had leapt out of the shadows in front of him, his hands were pointing deliberately at Garen, his fingers strangely clawed as though clasping at an invisible ball, he did not lower his arms as he circled around the bizarre scene. Garen understood, he should have seen this coming. He stared at the man with hatred burning in his dark eyes.

"Release me!" He demanded, vaguely surprised to find that he could speak at all. The man gave a cold laugh. He bowed ever so slightly, and with an almost lazy click of his fingers Garen was hurled backwards though the air. The might of Demacia landed painfully on his back, skidding several feet, his armour scraping awfully against the marble floor. Garen got quickly to his feet, in full control of his arms and legs once more, his fingers tightened reassuringly around the handle of his sword. He only had one thought in his mind.

With a roar of rage he charged forwards, his sword raised, thundering down upon the Injured Lord. Again, it seemed he was stopped by an invisible wall and he bounced harmlessly off, sent spinning by his own momentum. He lost his balance and toppled to the ground once more, his hands coming out at the last moment to break his fall. There was a ringing of laughter from behind him; he looked furiously back to see the silhouettes of a dozen guards, framed by the blazing archway of light through which they had entered. His fury still directing his actions he stood up, this time bearing down upon the purple robed man, his sword hungering for blood, glinting as he moved in and out of the light.

The man didn't even flinch, with another twirl of his hands; Garen was yanked into the air as if by some imaginary hook. He hung suspended high above the floor, caught in the arc of light from the nearest window; the hatred rippled across his face in a thousand different colours. He gave a blood curdling yell, and unable to move forwards he swung out wildly with his sword, slicing the air in front of him and only narrowly missing the mage's outstretched arm. There was more taunting laughter, Garen screamed ever louder…

"ENOUGH!" A great bellowing voice thundered throughout the hall, silencing everything it came into contact with. The soldiers stiffened nervously and Garen stopped his enraged flailing, his arms falling limply to his sides, his breathing ragged and heavy. Lord Harrigon groaned as he pulled himself shakily back to his feet. "That is enough!" He repeated looking around at all of them. "Let him down." He instructed talking to the man in the purple robes, who merely shrugged before withdrawing his arm. Garen plummeted to the ground with an almighty crash.

For what felt like the millionth time in ten minutes, Garen got back to his feet. Every pair of eyes in the room was fixed on him, some nervously twitching, others full of curiosity, the mage was looking vaguely amused but Lord Harrigon's cold grey eyes showed only disappointment. How could he be disappointed? He had just ordered Garen to execute his own sister, his only sister, how dare he feel anything at all. Garen's sword arm twitched with anticipation as he stared down at the old man.

"Are we finished?" Lord Harrigon said eventually, talking only to Garen. "Are you ready to discuss this like reasonable men?" Garen flared up again instantly.

"REASONABLE?" He yelled, "After what you have just ordere…I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE REASON!" He lifted his sword high above his head and brought it thundering downwards, it would have cleaved the other man cleanly in two had his hand not been stayed, at the last second by yet another spell. Lord Harrigon did not even blink; his eyes did not leave Garen's own.

"Stop it you stupid boy." He said with exasperation. Garen growled, twisting and turning, trying to fight against the invisible force that restrained him. "I'm curious, after you kill me, what do you plan on doing next?" Garen said nothing; he would not give this man the satisfaction of being proved right. "Surely you must know… you cannot save your sister now." Garen's rage swelled, every ounce of his anger and his strength urging his body forwards, and slowly he was making progress. His body inched forwards, as though dragging some enormous weight behind him, the man in the purple robes was visibly straining as he tried to hold his spell in place, the amusement had disappeared from his face, replaced by concentration, and there was sweat running down his brow.

"You can however, choose how she dies. How she is remembered." The old man said softly, and the words pushed Garen over the edge. With one great surging effort he flung himself forwards, throwing every last ounce of strength into fighting the spell that bound him. He broke free for a moment, managing to move forwards, but the spell held and Garens momentum merely brought him crashing forwards onto his knees.

"AAARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!" He screamed with frustration, and the sound of his own broken, haunting shout echoed around the huge chamber, filling his own ears. He stared at Lord Harrigon with undisguised hatred, loathing everything about him, from his infuriating calmness, to his shiny bald head. "I WILL NOT KILL HER!" He bellowed suddenly, the last of his anger exploding out of him, but with it went the last of his self-control, and he broke down, tears poured hopelessly from his eyes, streaking silently down his once handsome face. His whole body crumpled, slackening against the spell that was the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground. He was shaking from head to foot, and his great rasping breaths were the only sound he could hear. "I-I can't kill her…" He said much quieter, almost as if he was speaking to himself.

"Yes you can." Lord Harrigon said reassuringly, as if he was simply helping him with a difficult training exercise. He was watching Garen's sobbing with pity in his old tired eyes. "You can do it because you are no traitor." Garen looked up at him through his tears, snivelling weakly.

"B-bu-but why?" He stammered, "Why must I. If you want her dead… if it is as you say, and she is a traitor, then execute her. That is what justice demands, not me… not her brother…" Lord Harrigon gave a small humourless chuckle that could not have been further from the look of deep sorrow on his face.

"You are right of course, but even justice, must sometimes be…" he cast around for the right word. "Pragmatic." He finished wearily. He signalled over to the mage, who obligingly dropped his hands. In his grief Garen barely even noticed that the spell had lifted. There was no fight left in him; his terrible despair had sapped him of the last of his strength.

"I don't understand…" He said pathetically.

"Well your sister's crimes are not yet public. She is something of a symbol to the Demacian people, and a Crownguard no less, to publicly execute her would be…short-sighted. It needs to be a mystery, suspicious even. Despite what you might think we take no pleasure in this. We want nothing more than to keep our noble houses strong, but unfortunately your sister's choices have made it a grim necessity." He looked away, apparently lost in thought, and Garen suddenly understood.

"You would seek to use her, even in death…" The full appalling truth of the situation was clear in Garen's quivering voice.

"Yes." The old man said simply. "Demacia must come first. Young Lux may have outlived her usefulness, but that does not mean that her death cannot be turned to our favour." His voice was deliberately low so as only the three of them could hear his words. "The whole situation is most regrettable…" He finished. Regrettable…regrettable didn't even come close to the horror and the despair that gripped Garen. It gripped him so tightly he could barely breathe.

"You still haven't answered me…you still haven't told me-

"Why it must be you?" Lord Harrigon finished the sentence.

"Yes." Garen muttered, "Why not a soldier… an assassin…anyone! Anyone else but me!"

"There are two reasons." He replied grimly. "The first is that this whole affair could be devastating if the wrong person found out about it, and you, have a vested interest in keeping silent." Garen waited but the second reason never came.

"And the second?" Garen prompted after the silence had stretched on far too long. The old man looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth.

"The second…The second reason is that the King wanted to test you. Your whole family have been a liability of late; he needs to know where your loyalties lie. This is a chance for you to prove yourself, to atone for your own mistakes."

"Tha-that's sick…" Garen gasped, sinking ever further down into the cold marble floor, his mouth was suddenly incredibly dry. The old man nodded gravely, and for the first time, Garen realised that he wasn't the only person here who had been given a horrendous task. There was gentle trickle of blood, weeping from a cut near the Lord's eye, a cut that Garen had made. Incredibly he found himself feeling sorry for the old man, feeling guilt for his own violence and rage, he could have killed him. He would have killed him, and the old man was only following orders… because that's what's Demacians did…They followed orders till the end. The unthinkable truth of the situation slowly dawned on him and his sobbing stopped. His tear streaked face was blank, and emotionless. He didn't feel anything, it was as though his heart had turned to stone, it was cold and heavy inside his chest.

"You do, inevitably, have a choice. This is not Noxus after all…" The old man began, sounding immensely tired now. "There is always a choice, no matter how bleak things may seem. Your fate, the fate of your family, the fate of Demacia itself, lies solely in your hands." Lord Harrigon gently knelt down before Garen and put a firm hand on each of his broad shoulders. The contact started Garen slightly and he almost flinched, he had never felt so weak, so vulnerable, and so powerless.

"You may choose to disregard this order, and refuse to kill Lux… in which case you will both die. You will be arrested and executed together, as traitors. Your parents will mourn for two children instead of one, they will be distraught, humiliated, ruined even. Your Family name will be disgraced, it will be the end of the Crownguards - one of the oldest and most noble families in all of Demacia will be all but eradicated. Demacia herself will suffer, one of the pillars that held her up, that kept her strong, will have crumbled into dust, and she will be unstable, the scandal will leave her weaker than ever, we may well lose the war…"

Lord Harrigon watched Garen closely, his wizened face giving nothing away but his hands were trembling against Garen's shoulders. The silence was absolute, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

"Or…" The old man said after a long pause, "or you can finish it yourself. You can free Luxanna from this harsh, unstable world, as quickly and as painlessly as she deserves. She will be martyred, she will be remembered as a hero…the golden child, the Lady of Luminosity, who gave her life and her light for her country, in hope that it might rise from the darkness. The Crownguard name will be restored; your parents will be the proudest in all Demacia. Demacia herself will be stronger than ever, with you, the might of Demacia, unwavering, unconquerable at her helm. We will continue our unrelenting fight against evil, those dark forces that ensnared and bewitched your sister, which snatched her from us and blackened her noble heart and would do so time and time again until they are wiped from this world all together. We will fight them. And we will win."

There was another lengthy pause. Lord Harrigon rose slowly to his feet and then, showing surprising strength for such an old man, pulled Garen up from the ground. He reached out and took the sword that was still clenched in Garens fist. Garen did not protest. The elderly Lord raised the sword carefully with both hands, holding it up to the light so that it gleamed, sending a halo of Golden light dancing over the marble floor, surrounding the pair of them. The Demacian crest blazed proudly from the hilt.

"Those are your choices, Captain. Justice will out." Lord Harrigon said. Garen's brown eyes flickered upwards, and settled dully on the glistening sword.

Garen's mind was racing, searching wildly for some way out of this madness; some loophole that could save him…that could save Lux. He must be missing something, he could feel it! But with every second his mind grew ever blacker, a blackness so complete it felt as though it was squeezing his brain, making it impossible to think clearly. And with every second the voice in the back of his head grew ever louder, until it was all he could here – his own voice; emotionless, cold, truthful, defeated. The voice was his own but the words were not – they could not be his. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! This couldn't be how it ended!...could it?

"There is no choice." He said quietly, he couldn't believe what he was saying, but it was unmistakably his lips moving, he could even feel the words searing the back of his throat. He felt hollow, dead. There was a great empty space in his chest where his sister should have been. He had already lost her. Without warning Lord Harrigon spun the sword in his hands, holding it by the blade as he presented it to Garen on bended knee. The giant man took it...And as he took back his trusted sword, the sword that had been with him through so much, as he felt it's comforting weight in his hand, the answer came to him.

It hit him like a punch in the face. He could have screamed – he could have laughed, it was so obvious, how had he not seen it before? He fixed Lord Harrigon with his determined gaze, his sword still clutched tightly in his fist.

"What if Katarina dies?" He asked. "What if I kill her?" Lord Harrigon was caught off guard; his old wistful eyes looked up at Garen's eager, hopeful face and he sighed with disappointment, his crinkled skin creasing into a sombre frown.

"No captain. I'm sorry but we've heard similar promises in the past…The time for second chances has passed, we cannot risk the security of our nation on your word. Besides the thing can't be done…Its not possibly, the sinister blade is on Noxian soil, on high alert, untouchable. It would be insanity - suicide to even attempt it, and more important than that it would be unwise. There is a big difference between a league champion 'accidently' dying on institute property and you marching into Noxus and cutting her down in the street. It would mean war…" Garen had listened to all this impatiently and now he interrupted.

"I know I can do it. I could even do it undetected – although I can't understand why. Only minutes ago you spoke of how Noxus needed to be eradicated from the face of Runterra, how they needed to be crushed, how war was destined!" He spoke urgently, excitedly. "This is our chance! What better way to start a war with Noxus than by taking out their most deadly warrior. I can do it, I know I can." Garen changed tact; he sunk to one knee, bowing his head. When he spoke again his voice was calm and deferential. "Please, my Lord, you must let me try. Let me silence that Noxian bitch forever. Let me save my sister."

He stayed still, not moving even an inch. The point of his sword scratched against the polished marble floor. His brown hair, damp with sweat, was plastered to his brow. Lord Harrigon looked into his dark eyes with exasperation, and saw the sincerity there, it saw the unfaltering conviction. For an excruciatingly long time he didn't say a word as he considered the man knelt at his feet. The only noise was his wheezing shallow breaths and the occasional squeaking of boots from far behind them. Garen's whole body ached, it screamed for him to move, but its screaming was nothing compared to the silent screaming of his mind. Staying this still was almost unbearable with all the raw emotion that surged through his veins but he forced himself wait, and eventually the old man spoke.

"Very well. You may have your chance." Garen leapt to his feet with undisguised joy and relief, he left his sword rattling on the ground as he wrung the other man's hand with both of his own. The old man was almost lifted from his feet as his frail arm was pumped up and down.

"Thank you. I am so grateful…" Garen boomed, some of the old strength seeping back into his voice, a single tear creeping down his cheek. A shadow of a smile appeared on Lord Harrigon's withered face before he frowned again. He pulled himself from Garen's grasp and looked at the might of Demacia with serious eyes.

"Though be warned Captain…This ends today, one way or another. You know the consequences should you fail, you will find no more second chances here, no more forgiveness."

"I understand." Garen said, barely able to manage more than single words.

"Well… don't waste time on my account." Lord Harrigon said, dismissing Garen with a sweeping wave of his arm. "And good luck." Nodding fervently Garen turned to walk away, but at the last moment Lord Harrigon called after him. "Oh and Captain…" Garen turned slowly around; almost dreading what was coming next. "Do not fuck this up."

Garen shook his head grimly. "Demacia, now and forever." He turned around to face the blinding sunlight, the wall of guards parted as he strode towards them. He passed through the huge ornate arch, finally released from the steely grip of the shadows. The blazing sun beat down on his face but he could no longer feel its heat, and its fantastic light seemed somehow pale and surgical. No light, not even the sun's, could match the radiance of his sister's presence. His whole life he had held her light close to him, it had glowed and shone deep within his heart, giving him warmth and clarity through the very darkest of his days. It barely smouldered now, it sparkled feebly, a mere flame, all but smothered by the icy weight of his duty, buried beneath a mountain of mistakes and regret. He knew that very soon it might die completely, and then his world would never be as bright again. He would not allow that to happen. He knew what he must do.


	4. Unnatural

**Act III: Unnatural**

Katarina was in a hurry. These days, it seemed that she was always in a hurry. Finding yourself indebted to Jericho Swain was an unforgiving mistake to make. The twisted old fool had become increasingly more paranoid since assuming control of Noxus and the uncomfortable truce with Demacia had only made things worse. Ever since he had ardently filled the seat that had once belonged to Katarina's father – something he was doing only in a metaphorical sense as he was seldom calm enough to actually sit down – he had kept the Noxian high command in a feverish state of alert. They met several times a day, at any ungodly hour that Swain might decide, often just for him to dismiss them instantly in an effort to confuse any 'foreign spies' who might be watching them.

It was to one of these meetings, that Katarina had just been summoned. She shrugged on her worn leather jacket, sighing deeply as she did so. A pale hand ran through her waist length mess of red hair as she slid out of her bedroom door. It clicked quietly shut behind her. She hadn't managed to sleep a wink despite her exhaustion. It had been a restless few hours of tossing and turning under her cotton sheets, a troubled mind was a far better stimulant than any drink or drug and her mind was about as troubled as it got. Her thoughts were like a swarm of agitated bees, swirling and buzzing unbearably around her head, ensuring that any rest was completely impossible.

She took the stairs two at a time, and walked the length of the bleak hallway to her front door, kicking up a cloud of dust from the old threadbare carpet. She had long since grown used to the dust and dirt. Initially she had found the old house quite disgusting, with its dingy, dilapidated rooms, and shabby furniture. Every surface had been covered in a thick hide of dust, and it bore all the usual symptoms of years of neglect and abandonment. She spent so little time actually there that it didn't really matter, but as the weeks had passed she had gradually converted it, inch by laborious inch, into somewhere moderately inhabitable – well, it wasn't outright dangerous anymore at least. She was no longer waking up to find her lungs filled with more dust than a Shuriman desert in any case, she supposed that was something.

It was all part of her punishment. She was not stupid, Swain's great theatrical speech about clemency and solidarity – forgive and forget and all that bullshit – was entirely for the benefit of the council. He would never truly forgive her for failings; he enjoyed lording it over her far too much for that. She would be paying for her great lapse in judgment, for the rest of her miserable life. This old house, the ceaseless increasingly bizarre and irrational orders that had her running around like a dog chasing its own tail, it was just the beginning of Swains torture…As if she had not been paying for it already…every second of every day. Whatever punishment Jericho Swain's mind could come up with, however twisted, however ingeniously cruel, would always pale in insignificance next to the silent screaming of her own shattered heart.

The handle was stiff, groaning in her hand as she pulled the front door open. She grimaced as the wall of muggy, airless heat hit her once more, the height of a Noxian summer in all its glory. A good environment was apparently not one of the perks of living in the engine room of a heaving industrial empire. Katarina longed for the clean, open air back at the institute or even of a battlefield – hell, even at her old home, a few miles north, it wasn't nearly this bad.

She wasn't going back there however, not at least, while her insufferable snake of a sister was still there. At least here she did not have to deal with Cassiopia's venomous tongue…or the haunting memories of her father every time she entered a room. Katarina shook herself vigorously. She had been thinking about her father far too much recently, only Lux had invaded her thoughts more frequently. The two were not entirely unrelated. She shuddered to think what her father, the great General Du Couteau, would have said if he'd have known…The red head stopped herself. That didn't bear thinking about.

It was only because it got caught under the heavy wooden door, that Katarina noticed the crisp white envelope lying on the floor. The pristine white of the parchment made a stark contrast to the grimy carpet. Irritably she bent down and picked it up, ignoring the twinge of complaint from her spine. The small pang of physical pain, threatened to remind her of another, entirely different type of pain. A pain that was far, far worse than any physical pain she had ever known, and she really didn't have the energy to deal with that right now, not again. She carelessly slung the letter to one side, leaving it on a small wooden table. She would look at it, whatever it was, whenever she was free of Swain's latest mad instructions.

She was halfway out of the door when a thought struck her. Only a very select people knew where she was currently living, and even fewer had cause to be writing to her. She sighed with frustration and turned back into the house. It was almost certainly Swain, probably writing to tell her that he'd decided to hold all future meetings upside down, or under water or something to try and stop rats from overhearing them. It was guaranteed to be something ridiculous. He was going to get them all killed with his madness if it was allowed to continue – if not at the hands of their enemies then from sheer exhaustion. She snatched up the letter from the table and left, intending to read whatever Swain deemed, so very important that it could not wait five minutes, on her way to the meeting.

This time she made it to the bottom of the stone steps that led up to her front door, before she stopped again. This time however, there was something different. She froze completely, staring down at the envelope in disbelief; even her heart seemed to have stopped beating. She could not take her eyes of the curled lettering on the front, her own name spiralling elegantly across the parchment. That was not certainly not Swain's writing…she only knew one person who had such beautiful calligraphy but…it was impossible! Surely she must have been mistaken, it must be some horrible joke?

She suddenly felt incredibly exposed, standing there in the open like that, in yellowy afternoon light. She looked furtively up and down the street, clutching the letter tightly in her hands, her hands that were suddenly sweating. There were eyes everywhere she looked, watching her from every shadow, every window, and every tiny crack. She needed to get inside.

Trying as hard as she could to appear casual she spun back around, stumbling slightly as she climbed back up the stone steps. Somehow, infuriatingly, her key didn't seem to fit in the lock, even though it had worked fine thirty seconds ago. She twisted and pushed time and time again and eventually the door clicked open and she fell over the threshold into the musty darkness.

She slammed the door shut behind her, before collapsing heavily backwards against it. For a moment she just stood there – or rather, leant there, in the gloom, breathing heavily. She looked down at the flimsy envelope in her hands through the sheet of her crimson hair that had fallen over her face. She hardly dared to open it.

Taking several exceptionally deep, steadying breaths, she struggled to compose herself. This was fucking ridiculous, it was just a letter for God's sake, it could be anything! Annoyed with herself, she swept her long hair aside so that she could see better, before pulling out a sharp dagger. With care – an unusual level of care given how freely and precisely she could slit a man's throat – she slid the envelope open.

The old house creaked and groaned around her as she placed the empty envelope down on the table. With trembling fingers; she unfurled the single sheet of parchment. A loud gasp of shock escaped her lips and the shadow of a smile appeared on her pale face, her green eyes were wide and flashed with excitement, her heart performed a funny leap within her heaving chest. She had been right, it was actually from her! The fleeting buzz of excitement, and the fuzzy warmth that had accompanied it, disappeared so quickly that the feelings might well have been a figment of her imagination. It was replaced with dismay as, one by one, all the disastrous implications began to pop up in her head.

She lowered the letter having read merely the first line, her arms dropping down against her thighs as she groaned. Her head was flung back, staring up at the peeling ceiling with wild despairing eyes, leaning heavier than ever against the wooden door. Her mind was racing, a thousand different possibilities screaming for her attention and fighting each other to get to the fore front of her mind. What the fuck was she supposed to do? It can't be real? She glanced downwards again at the lines of neatly curling letters before looking sharply away, as though she'd seen something indecent. It was her writing, almost certainly. Unless… it was forged? If it was forgery it was an extremely accurate one. Was it a trap? Swain testing her resolve? She shuddered involuntarily; it seemed exactly like the kind of stunt he would pull.

But what if it was actually Lux…How could she possibly believe a word of what the Demacian said…after how totally she had fallen for it last time. Katarina bit her bottom lip as she remembered her last encounter with the mage…it didn't add up, why would Lux not have just killed her then, she had been utterly at the other woman's mercy, it would have taken but a flick of her lithe wrist…and yet here Katarina was, alive and well – actually, 'Well' might be too strong a word but she was still very much alive. None of this made any sense! She felt the excitement rise through her body once more; did that mean it might be real? The only way to tell was to read it right? Surely there was no harm in just reading it - not because she wanted to obviously, but because she needed to know who it was really from.

Slowly, trembling almost uncontrollably with anticipation, she raised the letter up into the dim light and began to read. And as she read she forgot everything. She forgot all her doubts, all about any plots or conspiracies, about Demacia and Noxus, about where she was, about who she was. In that moment all she knew was swirling black ink on snow white paper, and the words…Lux's words. It was painfully slow progress, what with the gloom of the corridor and Katarina's own quivering hands, but there was something else as well. She didn't want to go quickly. She wanted to savour every last word, to feel every last word. She didn't want it to end.

The further down she read, the harder it became to carry on. For some reason the words appeared to be swimming on the page, blurring and blending into one another. Every word tore at Katarina's fragile heart, so much so that it became hard to breathe. It hurt so much that her body screamed out at her to stop, but she couldn't, she could not tear her eyes away from the page. With every sentence her back slipped a little further down the door, her jacket scraping against the rough wood, until eventually she was sitting in a crumpled heap on the floor, her long legs splayed out in front of her.

It was like she was back at the institute, the two of them sitting together in Lux's room with the pale moonlight dancing all around them. She could almost hear the Golden haired girl's soft, sweet voice. She could almost feel her warm breath as it gently caressed her ear. Katarina delicately brushed her fiery hair backwards behind her ear, and her head tilted ever so slightly, exposing her soft cheek and the slope of her neck. Her hand fell to the carpet, where it stretched out, searching blindly, her fingers curling lightly as they subconsciously probed for a hand to hold, desperate to interlace with slender fingers that were not there.

When she finally finished it was like waking up from a dream, the most amazing dream. She was surprised to find tears filled her eyes, and dark splotches covered the paper. Had she been crying this whole time? Her heart was racing even though she was sitting completely still. She read the last line over and over again - _I love you, yours forever_ – those words pounded in her head like a drumbeat, louder and louder until her head felt like it was about to explode. It was too much, it was all too much. She cried out in an explosion of pure emotion and suddenly she was sobbing uncontrollably, tears flooding relentlessly down her pale skin. The letter gently fluttered to the ground where it settled once more on the dusty carpet, she held her head in her hands, red hair spilling down over her face.

For several minutes she stayed like that, a shaking, spluttering heap at the foot of the front door. It was a relief, after all this time bottling it all up, pouring every ounce of her energy into appearing her usual stoic, emotionless self, all the while wanting nothing more than to scream out in rage and despair. Crying felt wonderful, her mind blissfully clear as she just let it all flood out, she could feel a huge weight lifting from her shoulders. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore, her tears shuddered to a halt as quickly and as suddenly as if someone had turned off a tap. Still snivelling loudly she picked the letter back up from the ground and held it close to her; she tried absent-mindedly to wipe away the worst of her tear stains with her thumb. Her mind was racing again.

What should she do? She was sure now that the letter was from Lux herself. Jericho Swain was many things, but romantic was not one of them. There was no way he could bring himself to write those words without throwing up, let alone compose them. It was Lux, it had to be Lux. The mage's voice was unmistakable, but that only created more questions; was it a trap? It felt real.

Katarina desperately wanted it to be real, but she knew Lux well too well to let herself believe it, her wounds were too fresh to think Lux incapable of such a grand deception. Besides, from everything Lux had confessed during their last battle, the Demacian was in about as much control of her life as Katarina was of her own. Who was to say that Lux hadn't been forced to write the letter! She could be acting on orders, she might be being threatened – Katarina's blood began to boil at the mere idea of it. She stood up and began to pace, the letter clutched to her chest.

That didn't make sense either though. The letter wasn't asking for anything…Surely if it was a Demacian plot they would be trying to wheedle information out of her…or to try and turn her against Noxus. It just didn't seem plausible…which only left one possibility. It was just Lux acting on her own… her friend, her love. It had nothing to do with Noxus or Demacia or any war, and everything to do with her aching heart and her lonely soul. She had to fight back the wave of excitement that she felt building inside her…she still had no idea what to do.

Of course she knew what she was supposed to do. Her duty was to take the letter straight to Swain - it was correspondence from an enemy, anything else could be considered treasonous. The old tactician would surely be eager to discover just how a Demacian had managed to sneak into the centre of Noxus undetected to deliver it.

It would be far worse than that however, there was no doubt he would be very interested, delighted even, when he uncovered the nature of Lux's letter. Katarina could just imagine his sneering patronizing face, his horrible rasping voice as he slowly read the letter aloud to the entire council, him pausing theatrically after every line, maybe laughing, maybe feigning shock – the idea repulsed her.

The notion of Swain reading a single one of Lux's carefully sculpted words, even so much as the name on the envelope, made her skin crawl. It was unthinkable. The letter was so private, so personal, Katarina wanted to lock it away in her heart and never show it to anyone till the day she died. – But that day might come a lot sooner than she had hoped however if she got caught concealing the letter from Swain…

For minutes on end she kept up her senseless patrolling of the corridor, her boots wearing the carpet ever thinner as she swept up and down, locked in an impossible internal debate. She only stopped when a sudden jarring note caused her to almost jump out of her skin. One hand had already flown to her daggers, and her green eyes were narrowed searching for the threat before she realised it was only the clock. The battered old grandfather clock that stood tall in the corner of the kitchen, like some lonesome sentinel. She relaxed, allowing her breathing to steady while the chiming continued, its melancholy song creeping through the old house.

She didn't bother to even glance at it. It probably hadn't told the correct time for decades, certainly it never had since she had moved in, but it reminded her none the less that time was still marching incessantly forwards. It had been some time now since she had been summoned to the meeting and if she didn't turn up soon they would assume something was wrong. That was the last thing she needed, a fucking search party smashing down her front door and finding her in this state.

Wearily she turned and confronted her own tragic reflection. Her own piercing green eyes stared back out of the glass at her, the only colour that truly managed to penetrate the thick layer of grime and dust covering the huge oval mirror that stood before her. It hung on the wall, framed in gnarled, mouldy wood; the ornate carving had worn away. It had probably been pretty once, almost certainly it had been valuable.

The woman in the mirror hunched unapologetically, a defiant sneer on her lips that didn't quite manage to mask the haunted, tortured look on her face. Katarina sighed deeply, she hadn't seen Lux in months and still the golden haired girl could reduce her to this in a matter of minutes. She looked a complete mess. Half-heartedly she raised a hand and patted at her dishevelled hair, she wiped the worst of the tear stains from her cheeks. That would have to do.

For the third time in half an hour, she walked out of her front door, her eyes squinting slightly in the muggy afternoon light. The narrow streets were quiet as she walked, her boots flying automatically along the dusty cobblestone. She still had no idea what she was going to do. She was barely even aware of where she was going, her thoughts becoming more panicked with every step she took. Her hand kept involuntarily rising to her jacket, and patting the pocket where the letter was concealed. She took a strange comfort in running her fingers around its outline, it was a reminder of the happiest times of her life, a time that now felt so distant she wondered whether the whole thing might have been a dream. The letter was proof that it had not.

She was soon free of the maze of empty side streets and had emerged on to a much wider thorough fare. Here it was far busier, heaving waggons rattled in both directions along the street, their groaning wheels churning up great clouds of dust and dirt through which the shadowy figures of factory workers swam, in and out like ghosts, sliding between the thundering traffic with the casual air of people who had walked these streets their whole lives.

The closing bell approached, its tinny clang would signal the end of another working day but until it did the great mechanized engine of Noxus would not ease up. The factories, warehouses and shops that lined the street were as noisy as ever.

The pavements were little safer than the roads themselves. People hurried back and forth with strained looks on their sweaty, soot blackened faces, urgently trying to finish their tasks before the end of their shifts. They were watched merrily by a second group, those early arriving contingent of the evening workforce. They were distinctly more relaxed than their counterparts, milling around in packs outside the factory gates, chatting laughing and smoking before their own shifts began. Katarina kept her eyes down as she walked, dodging instinctively along the pavement, her mind never leaving her thoughts.

Was she really about to just hand the letter over to Swain? There would be no turning back if she did, it would be like closing a door on that entire, messy, painful, wonderful, chapter of her life. Noxus had to come first. Her whole life had been in service of Noxus, it was who she was - Strength above all! – She would be a fool to throw that all away for…for what? So she could cling to some impossible fantasy? So that she could prove that it hadn't all been a dream? Lux was gone, the letter had made that much painfully clear, she needed to let go of all this shit, once and for all!

Lux was gone. - _"I know that I will never see you again. I have made my peace with that. I'm leaving today, a boat is leaving at dusk and I will be on it."-_ She was never going to see her again. Those few words terrified Katarina more than anything she had ever known – far more than Jericho Swain! The thought of never seeing Lux again, her golden hair, her golden smile, never hearing her soothing her voice, it physically hurt. She was catching a boat. Where from? Where was she going?

Katarina moved steadily north, gradually leaving the industrial district behind as she neared the centre of Noxus. The world around her became clearer, cleaner, even the air itself. The factories and workhousesgave way to grand, imposing mansions, and large halls. The people walking the streets were better dressed; their clothes were woven from expensive fabrics and spotlessly clean. Their skin was pink and smooth baring no blemishes from years of hard manual labour, most of these people would never have so much as held a hammer. They even held themselves in a different manner, stiff and arrogant.

She was almost there; she could already picture herself crumbling under Swain's penetrating stare as he asked why she was so late. What was she going to say?

" _I don't know where I'll go or what I'll do, all I know is I will never look back."_ Lux was running away, leaving Demacia, leaving her family. Why? Because of her? For her? If she was running away that meant that she would not be using the docks anywhere near Demacia…

The scenery was changing around her again. These were her streets now, as familiar to her as the back of her own hand. Banners of a bloody, Noxian red fluttered from every post and draped down every wall. There were soldiers everywhere, heavily armoured troops of men, metal clanking and glinting as the sun found a gap in the smog. Some of them stood to attention as she passed, others muttered and sniggered amongst themselves, others simply ignored her – not that she was paying attention to any of this anyway. She had fallen so far…the respect that she had worked so hard to earn, the reputation that she had sacrificed so much to build, had all but crumbled to dust. All because she had dared to let herself be happy, because she had let herself feel, because she had let Lux in. There were almost as many as rumours and whispers about her as there were about her sister now.

" _You made me who I am and I will never go back."_ That was certainly fucking true. Lux had fucked everything up, she had ruined her life…Why did she have to be such a two faced bitch! Why did she have to exist? Why did she have to be so lovely? It was hopeless she could be at any dock in Runterra!

Katarina turned onto a street grander than any other, countless rows of identical black stone flagons stretching on into the distance as far as she could see. High stone battlements ran along its flanks, with huge circular towers jutting out at intervals, their tops barely visible in the hazy, heavy air. There were even more Noxian flags, flying proudly everywhere she looked giving the sky itself a bloody pinkish hue, it was like being under the canopy of a crimson rainforest.

The wind that had been distinctly tame thirty seconds earlier was suddenly fierce. It got caught between the high walls and funnelled along the road in a whispering, spiralling frenzy. It whipped at the flags, sending them streaming out in unison, like arrows directing her forwards. The same wind buffeted against her back, almost knocking her off her feet, it tugged at her clothes and her hair flew in every direction, like a nest of irate crimson snakes flailing about her head, hissing and spitting.

Slowly and unsteadily she moved forwards, drawn, almost against her will, ever closer to the mammoth structure that loomed at the end of the road. Ever closer to Jericho Swain…She could feel eyes trained on her from somewhere up above, and squinting against the wind, the sun, and her own thrashing hair she could just about make out the silhouettes of guards, that stood watching her from the battlements. Very soon the council would know she was coming and then it really would be over…

With every step she became less and less sure of herself. With every step her resolve weakened. She could not shake the feeling that she was marching freely into a nightmare. Was she really that weak, that foolish? Was she just going to grin obediently as she handed Swain her own torture weapon, tightening the noose around her own neck, this was insanity! But what choice did she have?

She was close now; her strides carrying her along the long street deceptively fast with the wind at her heels, still moving inexorably forwards, closer and closer. The buildings shadow rushed out to meet her and suddenly everything went icy cold, the summer sun was a distant memory as the fortress swum into detail. It was immense, as though some monstrous black creature from the void had landed in the centre of Noxus. If it hadn't been older than the city itself it could very easily have been some hibernating colossus, gnarled black stone like a scaly hide, twisted spires like hunched limbs, it emanated a cold, cruel power. An age ago it had been the home of a feared warlord, and now with Noxus on the brink of war, it played citadel to one equally cruel, and doubly ruthless.

Katarina was really starting to panic now, and her pace slowed drastically as she approached the fortress. The letter tucked deep in her pocket was no longer a source of comfort, not here. In fact it was quite the opposite; it was like having a ticking bomb thudding against her rib cage, a bomb made from words. Beautiful, volatile, deadly words, that condemned her, at any moment it might explode and tear her world apart at the seams.

There was no way she could hide it. Once she stepped inside, it was over, the letter was as good as Swain's, she could not lie to him, she'd never been able to lie to him. Those piercing black eyes would see through her in an instant. Even standing here now, in the open air, it was almost as though the letter was pulsing in her jacket, glowing red hot against her skin, vibrating violently – was it all in her head, or was there some curse on the fortress to expose deceit and treachery? It took all her strength to fight the sudden urge to rip the letter out and hurl it away into the air, to pray that it was carried far from this place at the mercy of the winds. She was losing her mind.

The road in front of her tapered away, the stone walls pressing in on both sides, strangling the speed out of any would-be invaders approach. The only way forwards was across a single, fairly narrow drawbridge, hewn from some ancient gnarled wood, a sickly greenish grey in colour. After centuries of assault from the elements, it looked like it had no right to still be standing at all, let alone support the weight of an army.

A small company of guards stood at its mouth, silent and alert. A single pair of torches flickered from their brackets high on either side of the road. The dull light glinted in the guards obsidian armour, and the flame traced the edges of their blades. Capes of blood red hung over the right shoulder of each man, hemmed with a heavy silver so that the fabric barely even stirred despite the violence of the wind. The soldiers would have been near invisible without them.

Katarina eyed the guards - her countrymen, her comrades, her subordinates – with poorly disguised distrust, even enmity. Did they know? Her hand discreetly quivered at her waist, brushing lightly against the handle of a blade, her fingers itching with anticipation. How could they possibly know? Her other hand began to travel instinctively up inside her jacket, reaching for the letter but she caught herself at the last moment. This was fucking hopeless, she hadn't even been challenged and she had almost given her secret away – why were they all staring at her like that?

Katarina forced herself to calm down, they weren't staring at anything, not her, and certainly not her pocket – they couldn't be. She couldn't even see their eyes for fucks sake; there wasn't so much as a flicker of life from the black slits in their helmets. She tried hard to compose herself, to arrange her features into her usual sullen mask of utter confidence. She failed miserably; it was all too much, too much noise in her head. Dread took hold of her, sucking the energy from her limbs and the warmth from her heart. She was so very close now. Close to the end.

Why did this feel so much like an ending? The end of what? She would give Swain the letter – she had no choice – and whatever he did, however he tormented her, however painful it got, she would endure. She would endure because that was who she was, just as she always had, and life would go on…Life would go on but she wouldn't be living. She had barely been living these past few months…clinging to the tiniest strand of hope, the flickering warmth of her memories was all that separated her from one of the lifeless metal worker drones they had in Piltover. Only one thing had kept her going. It was love…hopeless and excruciating love. It was all that had kept her human.

This was an ending. If she went through with this madness it would be the end of love; the end of happiness; the end of light. She would be a loyal servant of Noxus, the woman she was meant to be, the woman her father had raised her to be. The Sinister Blade…A dark, empty void stretched out in front of her, it was all she could see. She'd had spent years dancing with death but now her life seemed endless, miserable and pitiless.

She halted altogether, battling against the force of the wind that threatened to make up her mind for her. For an age she stood motionless in the centre of the road, the wind rushing in her ears. What could she do? It was impossible; there was nothing, no other choice.

The thing about running away, the need for secrecy and discretion, was that it left your options desperately limited. It was like trying to hide on a jigsaw board where all but the last few pieces were in place. Those gaps, those black spaces were blindingly obvious, at least to someone with Katarina's training. The absence of information, told her all she needed to know. It would not be hard to track her down…

Katarina was desperate, painfully aware that with every passing second that she stood frozen here, mere paces away from gates to the Immortal Bastion, her choices were dwindling. If she left it much longer it would not matter what she decided anyway. Noxus was her life! Strength above all! It was who she was, so engrained into her very being that turning her back on it now was almost impossible.

Her whole life seemed to flicker before her eyes, unravelling backwards like an old roll of film. She saw the dark uncertainty of her future. She saw her world as it was now, desolate and empty. Those few blissful months, little more than a golden, sparkling speck on her existence. Then she saw the years of fighting, and training, and arguing, the years given over to Noxus, an age of black and red and grey. And then lastly, her childhood and her father…

Her father…What would he tell her to do, what would he say if he could see her now? She raised a hand unwittingly and with her index finger she gently traced the old scar that sliced like a chasm, across her left eye. White hot tears suddenly stung her jade eyes as words spoken long ago echoed around her head. His blade was not the only thing that had left her scarred that day… each of his hateful words, lingered on her soul like a scar of its own, buried deep beneath the surface but every bit as damaging. 'Unnatural'. Katarina was suddenly angry, years of rage and resentment and self-loathing all manifesting within her as cold hard certainty. She had made her decision.

In an instant she had swept around and strode quickly back the way she had come. Her father's disgusted voice was still ringing in her ears, driving her on into the face of the wind. Her flaming hair flew out behind her like a cape, her teeth were gritted resolutely and tears ran freely down her cheeks. Her blood rushed furiously in her veins but as she walked a second voice sounded in her head, quietly at first, but getting louder and stronger with every step until it drowned out her father's hate completely.

" _I love you."_

And suddenly it wasn't just anger that rushed in her veins; it was relief, and joy. The weight of indecision had been lifted from her shoulders, she felt as though she was flying. The future was crystal clear, illuminated by a dazzling golden light, which left her wondering how she could have ever dreamed of anything else.

"I love you too." She muttered under her breath, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly. The sun had found a crack in the clouds and it tickled the back of her neck as she sped along the black road, away from the soldiers, and the fortress, and from Jericho, fucking, Swain. With every second she left a little more of Noxus behind her.


	5. Crimson Sunset

**Act IV: Crimson Sunset**

The sun hung low in the sky, hovering serenely just over the horizon, like an airship of dazzling gold. Far in distance the perfect sapphire sky kissed the rich turquoise of the ocean, the two were indistinguishable but for the rainbow of sparkling light that danced amongst the waves.

It was a stunning evening; the full heat of the day had started to wane, leaving the air comfortably warm and a gentle, refreshing breeze rolled in with the waves. The small dock was nestled in the shadow of Piltover and the city of progress could be seen twinkling in the rays of the late sun, the tips of its many towers and spires reaching high over the tops of the rolling hills that hid the dock from view.

The dock itself comprised of a handful of wooden huts, and a single wooden jetty that stretched out from the beach, creeping out into the bay where the water lapped gently at its rickety supports. Aside from a small fishing boat, that didn't look especially sea worthy, bobbing half submerged just off the beach, there wasn't a ship in sight. It couldn't have been more different to the gleaming Demacian war docks, or the sprawling mess that was Bilgewater. It was peaceful and quiet, there wasn't a soul in sight, the only movement came from the soft wash of the sea and long grass that was rustling in the evening breeze.

A girl with long golden hair was sitting, motionless in the shade of one of the huts. She sat atop a large wooden crate, her legs were crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her clothing was distinctly modest: a knee length, sturdy looking pair of black travelling boots, tight fitting brown trousers secured with a thick leather belt, a simple pale blue tunic, and a hooded cape, brown with purple stitching around the hem, cut from some thick hide it fell just below her shoulder blades. She had a small satchel bad resting against her hip.

Lux felt remarkably calm as she gazed out to sea, her watchful blue eyes scouring the horizon for any sign of an approaching ship. She had expected to feel…well, she wasn't really sure what exactly she had expected to feel. Wracked with guilt maybe, for deserting her country? Sorrow upon leaving her family and her home behind? Panic about the prospect of being caught? Or perhaps fearful about the uncertainty that shrouded her future?

The reality, however, was that she barely felt anything at all. It was hard not to feel relaxed surrounded by all this tranquillity, the gentle breeze in her hair, the hypnotic swaying motion of the reeds, the crystal clear water slinking further and further up the shore. In the gaps between the breaking waves, Lux could hear the bustle of Piltover in the distance, the faint rumblings of daily life. It was strange really that all that life could be so very close by, and yet here she was, completely alone. She supposed when you lived in the city that had everything, there was no need to notice what was going on just beyond your walls.

She was even beginning to feel excited, as it began to sink in; she was finally free. Proper freedom! For the first time in her entire life, there was no one telling her where to go, or what to do – or who to be for that matter! It was a daunting prospect, but it was also exhilarating, the whole world was at her fingertips, and the world suddenly felt so much bigger. It was like having lived her whole life, confined to the inside of some dank cave, and finally stumbling out into the light of day for the very first time. It was blinding, an almost overwhelming sense of liberation – Where should she go? What should she do? It was her choice – that was going to take some getting used to.

For too long her life had been beyond her control, well, forever really. –

Lux suddenly wheeled round, hands scratching the rough wooden crate as she twisted awkwardly at the waist. In her haste she almost toppled from the crate completely. She performed a kind of seated pirouette, like a drunken ballerina, arms and legs sticking out, not especially graceful but she managed to regain her balance at the last moment. Not wasting any time feeling embarrassed she looked around the deserted dock with wide eyes. There was a ghost of excitement etched on her young face, she could have sworn she had heard…for a moment she had thought…The excitement was quickly replaced with a disappointed frown however. It appeared she was still very much alone. Of course she hadn't heard…She doubted anyone alive had ever heard the sound of Katarina's footsteps…but even so, for one glorious heartbeat she had hoped…

Lux slid carefully down from her makeshift perch, landing lightly of the weathered planks of the jetty. She suddenly found that she could not sit still, she could not shake the feeling of disappointment and in turn that was making her annoyed – annoyed with her own stupidity. She strolled absent-mindedly over to the water's edge, chewing at her neat fingernails as she walked. She stood on the edge of the water. For a moment she gazed moodily down at her own reflection, before she nudged a rock over the edge with her boot, watching with grim satisfaction as it splashed down right in the middle of her face, the ripples completely obliterating her watery image.

She had promised herself that she would not get her hopes up, that she would not let her dreams run away with her. It was too painful to admit what she truly desired, she needed to let go, for both there sakes. It was a fantasy! She tried to tell herself that she could start again, tried to convince herself that she could leave the past behind. She could go anywhere, somewhere new! She might meet someone else…

The truth was however, she didn't want anyone else, the very idea made her heart cry out in protest. There was a part of her past that she just couldn't forget… and deep down; there was still a tiny part of her, a tiny romantic, stubborn, deluded part of her that had thought that they could be together again…That's what it had all been about after all. The Noxian was the sole reason for any of this… it had always been about her…for her.

Lux had hoped that her letter might have been enough, just maybe…She could never have asked directly. No, asking in itself would have settled the matter. It would have made it completely impossible, the redhead's fierce pride would have seen to that. In any case she had no right to ask anything of Katarina, not anymore. But still she dared to dream. All she could do was hope. Hope, and leave a delicate trail of clues…

It hadn't worked however, and deep down she had known it wouldn't… she had always known. It was her punishment for all the lies and the deceit and the wickedness…she deserved it. Lux gave a deep sorrowful sigh. A happy ending would have been more than she deserved.

She was miles away, utterly lost in her own head, in a labyrinth of her own wistful thoughts. She was so engrossed in her thoughts, that at first, she didn't notice the arm slinking around her body, or the glint of metal in the corner of her eye.

Before she could react she was yanked backwards, an arm closing tight as a vice around her chest, pinning both her arms to her sides. Her boots scrambled for purchase on the damp wood as she stumbled backwards against her attacker, her mouth opened automatically to cry out…and then she felt the scratch of cold steel against her throat. The scream died instantly, and her body went limp, paralyzed in fear

Lux didn't dare move, not that she could move very much anyway, she was completely powerless. Death was surely only seconds away, her heart was pounding furiously in her chest, and she tried desperately to calm down, knowing that any beat might well be her last. She waited for the end to come…but it didn't, not yet.

Nothing was moving, even the endless swell of the ocean seemed to have come to a halt. Lux could feel every tiny bump and groove in the razor sharp blade that was scratching at her throat. Her attacker's ragged breathing whispered in her ear, she could even feel their heartbeat, racing almost as fast as her own, pressed against her back. This was all very familiar…she knew that blade, she knew that arm, she knew that heart!

Suddenly Lux realised what was happening and in spite of everything she laughed. A hollow, hysterical, laugh that said more than a thousand words ever could have, a small breathless giggle that captured the tragic irony of…well of everything. Her entire life. The harrowing mockery of her fate.

She regretted it instantly. The sudden movement had caused the knife to cut into her skin, and she could feel hot blood trickling down her neck.

There was a sharp intake of breath behind her and the pressure of the dagger eased ever so slightly against her bloodstained skin. Lux was shocked to realise that the arm that held her was trembling violently. She was even more shocked to find that she wasn't. The pain and the fear that should have consumed her were no longer there, she felt wonderfully calm, a warm tingling serenity washing over her skin.

Slowly, purposefully she tilted back her head, fully exposing her neck to the cold, lethal, metal. She relaxed her entire body, melting backwards into Katarina's strong arms. Her head rolled back even further until she felt her hair brush against the other woman's cheek; gold and scarlet intertwined. She bit her bottom lip, there were tears glistening in her half closed eyes, but these were no tears of despair. They were tears of pure ecstasy.

This was the only way that it could end. From the first time they had ever laid eyes upon each other, their fates had been intertwined. Gold and scarlet, bound inseparably together by their loneliness, their fear and their anger…but also by their friendship, their desire and their love – Two wretched souls against the bitter, spiteful world. Lux no longer feared death because she no longer cared! She didn't care whether she lived or died, all that mattered was that she was in Katarina's arms one final time… that their hearts beating in unison one final time. She knew nothing else. If she was to die in that moment, she would die in bliss.

But she did not die. Not yet at least. Eventually, almost grudgingly as she hated to break the stillness of the moment, Lux spoke.

"It's been too long…" She said softly, careful not move any more than she needed to. There was no reply, but Lux could have sworn that the arm that was wrapped around her chest slackened slightly, and the hand that held the dagger was trembling worse than ever, dangerously so, giving its proximity to Lux's windpipe.

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked, breaking the silence again, her voice still as gentle and light as if she were merely asking about the weather. There was still no response from the other woman apart from her heavy uneven breathing. For a moment Lux was anxious that she had said the wrong thing, but then Katarina finally spoke and Lux was shocked to hear that she was crying. Her voice was little more than a whimper, struggling to get the words out between her rasping sobs.

"P-please…" Katarina said. She sounded broken and desperate, almost scared. The sound of her voice tugged uncomfortably at Lux's heart. She had only ever heard the assassin like this once before, and her only instinct was to hold her, to comfort her. She did all that she could do in the circumstances, her arm folded upwards at the elbow, and she clasped Katarina's hand in her own, running her thumb soothingly over the back of the other woman's clammy skin. Katarina did not stop her, instead she wept harder than ever, and it was several seconds before she manged to speak again.

"Please, t-tell me this isn't a trap?" She whispered pleadingly, unable to hide the fear in her voice.

"A trap?" Lux stammered in confusion. "Kat, I would never…I could never! Please, you must belie-

But she never got a chance to finish.

There was a clattering as the dagger fell to the floor, skidding harmlessly away over the damp wood. In one powerful movement the assassin whirled Lux around so that the two were face to face. Perplexed and dizzy, Lux swayed slightly on the spot, her arms resting limply at her sides. She gazed up into the taller woman's shimmering jade eyes.

Katarina looked positively fierce, her tear stained face full of defiance, a wild, hungering fire blazed in her eyes as she stared back at Lux. She stared at Lux as though she had not seen her for a lifetime; she stared as though she never wanted to look away again. She refused to even blink, such was her unwillingness to miss a single second of Lux's beauty.

They remained like that for what felt like an age, unmoving, eyes locked, as though frozen in time – and just like that it was as though the world was falling away all around them, taking with it all the dark anger of the past, and all the murky uncertainty of the future. Leaving just them, Katarina and Lux, alone, together, perfect. Nothing else mattered.

This time Katarina broke the stillness first. She raised both her arms, slowly and deliberately, and with a touch so soft it left a trail of fire along Lux's skin, Katarina meticulously brushed her golden hair back away from her face. She cupped Lux's cheeks with her hands. It was all Lux could do to stay upright, her whole body felt numb, and her knees were like jelly. It was as though Katarina held her entire body weight effortlessly in the palms of her hands. Lux's mouth hung open. Her eyes, wide and bright and nervous, trailed down Katarina's face, where they lingered on her lips: full and red, caught between a smirk and a pout and moving steadily closer…and closer… and closer…and…

Their lips locked. It was heaven. Passionate and gentle. Lux's nerves were washed away in the warmth of the kiss. She felt happiness like she had never known, she felt lighter than air, weightless in her own fulfilment. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she raised her arms to rest on katarina's shoulders, her wrists crossing lazily behind the other woman's neck.

Lux didn't know how long the kiss lasted, it could have been ten seconds, it could have been ten days. She didn't care. As one they waltzed backwards up the jetty, moving blindly in their passion, they twirled effortlessly around each other like twin stars, locked in orbit.

Katarina suddenly shoved Lux, with a gentle firmness that was impossible to argue with, back against the wall of a hut, in the same motion the red head pulled away, eliciting a disappointed moan from Lux as her cerulean eyes flew open. The mage opened her mouth vaguely, but the complaint stuck in her throat when she noticed Katarina's playful smirk, her eyes widened even further and she bit her bottom lip anxiously. In a heartbeat, Katarina was on her again, their bodies thrust together in a tight embrace as she nuzzled Lux's neck. Her hands trailed down Lux's waist and came to rest on her slim hips.

Lux gave a small gasp of surprise. Her head tilted teasingly to one side and her own hands lost themselves in the other woman's mane of lush red hair. Her eyes rolled backwards into her head with delight as a very different type of moan escaped her lips, low and breathless, lustful. Lux's whole body was electric with excitement; her breathing was heavy and sultry as Katarina's slender hands traced hypnotic patterns against her skin, moving ever faster, sliding ever lower-

"Wait!" Lux gasped, ducking nimbly out from behind the assassin. Katarina turned dazedly round to face her. It was her turn to look disappointed; there was pained bewilderment etched all over her elegant face. Lux could easily empathise; her own body ached in protest, painfully demanding to know why the pleasure had stopped so very prematurely.

"I…" Lux began. So rarely did she find herself lost for words, but again, the redhead had that effect on her, she was like no-one else she had ever met. This whole situation was unfamiliar, terrifyingly so… "I-I can't." She said weakly, shocking herself as well as her companion. "Not yet…I thought I'd lost you…" She trailed off apologetically. She glanced anxiously up at Katarina, expecting to see irritation on her face, maybe even anger, but she saw nothing of the kind.

The red head was gazing at her with sorrowful understanding in her bright green eyes, her eyes that were swimming with tears once more.

"I know what you mean." She replied soothingly, she moved over to Lux and pulled her into a close hug. "It's Ok." She continued as she softly stroked Lux's hair. "There is no one to stop us anymore! We have all the time in the world." Lux looked up from the ground to find Katarina beaming down at her. The other woman's smile was so pure, so enchanting, it must surely be the most beautiful thing in the entire world. She could not help but smile back.

And then she saw something that made her heart stop. The smile was wiped from her face as her jaw fell open in horror, her eyes wide with alarm. It couldn't be…how could he possibly have known?

Her older brother was marching resolutely down the gangway, thundering directly towards them. He was not wearing his usual armour, in fact he wore no uniform of any kind, none of his medals or crests or insignia, which usual held pride of place, gleaming on his broad chest, not even the slightest trace of anything Demacian. He was a ghost, wearing heavy, battle worn, armour of dark gun metal grey, and a long black cloak trailed over wooden planks in his wake. Even his sword was not his own, instead he carried a stout and ugly blade of wrought iron – carried it in his hand! Dread fell over Lux when she saw the way he held his sword ready.

Lux barely recognised her brother. This was not Garen, this was not the good hearted, proud and noble man she had grown up with. His face, dirty from the road, was half covered by a wrap of black cloth, only the top of his head was exposed; his dark hair, grimy and matted, and then his eyes…His eyes terrified Lux. They burned with a cold, bitter hatred, narrow and murderous. He stared straight through Lux as if she wasn't there, not even the slightest flicker of recognition as he bore down upon them. There was death in his eyes.

Lux was stunned, rooted to the spot, endless questions were relentlessly bombarding her mind, none of this made any sense! Why was Garen here? How had he possibly found them? Why was he like this? Why was his sword drawn? Icy panic clawed at her, like the tendrils of some hideous plant, slithering around her body, squeezing tighter and tighter, making it difficult to move, difficult to think, difficult to breathe.

Her dismay only increased, it seemed Garen was not alone. At least a dozen soldiers, all equally anonymous, dressed in the same dark grey armour, and just as heavily armed were approaching down the hill. They drew their weapons, fanning out at their leader's heel, closing in on Katarina and Lux like the jaws of a bear trap.

Katarina hadn't moved, she still held Lux close, her fiery head resting lovingly on Lux's shoulder, blissfully unaware that anything was wrong. For once in her life she had let her guard down, her senses, usually as sharp as any of her blades, had been numbed by her happiness. She was completely oblivious to the ring of blades that had formed behind her back.

The soldiers stopped moving, forming a tight knit semi-circle across the span of the dock, cutting off any escape. The two women had nowhere to run but into the sea. Garen alone continued forwards, still barrelling down upon them, with little sign of stopping, he twirled his huge sword effortlessly in his hand, Lux saw his mouth behind the cloth twisting into an ugly grimace.

Lux was truly scared now, she had no idea what was going on or what had happened to her brother to make him like this, but it didn't matter anymore. Her every instinct screamed danger and she had learned not to ignore her instincts.

With difficultly she wriggled free of Katarina's embrace and took a step to the side, ignoring the other woman's confused grumbling as she faced her brother. He didn't so much as look at her, he continued forward, his haunted eyes fixed furiously on Katarina's exposed back. Too late, horrified, Lux realised his intentions, and without hesitation she darted forwards into Garens path.

At that same moment Katarina turned around and saw the whole extraordinary scene: the wall of nameless soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder across the dock; the giant of a man that she didn't instantly recognize, striding towards her, his sword held aloft and glinting in the dying sun; the slight blond girl standing determinedly in his path. It was more than she could take in. She stumbled backwards slightly in surprise. She felt dazed, her head pounded, her vison was blurred, the dock swam in and out focus, and her hearing was distorted, as though she was hearing everything through a sheet of water.

"Garen, no…" She could hear a small voice, Lux's voice…she sounded so distant. The small woman was shuffling backwards in front of her brother to avoid being flattened. She tugged desperately at his free arm. "Garen please don't do this! Garen please look at me!"

Without warning Garen brought the back of his hand jerking upwards, it hurtled through the air like a hammer, and smashed into the side of Lux's face. There was an almighty crack, followed by a high pitch squeal as Lux was sent reeling backwards. She fell to the floor and lay still. Katarina snapped back to her senses in an instant as anger surged through her body.

"Do not talk to me you treacherous bitch!" Garen spat without tearing his cruel eyes away from Katarina, she had never seen him like this before. "You disgust me. You disgrace the name of Demacia!"

"That's fucking rich coming from you!" Katarina snorted mirthlessly, "You never seemed to mind disgracing Demacia when-

"SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!" Garen roared his eyes wild with hate. He broke into a run and Katarina could not react before he came crashing into her with his shoulder. She was sent staggering backwards in pain, and he followed instantly with a great arcing swing of his sword. Katarina just barely managed to duck in time as the huge blade whistled past, shaving the air mere inches above her head.

The assassin sprung back to her feet, twin daggers appeared, seemingly from nowhere, in her hands as she put distance between her and Garen, the huge man was still recovering from the effort of his own attack, doubled up and panting heavily. Katarina chanced an anxious glance over at Lux, the mage lay groaning on the floor, a hand nursing her battered temple – at least she was alive. The assassin turned wearily back to face her opponent.

"Why are you here Garen? Why can't you just leave us alone?" She asked pleadingly.

"Leave you alone?" Garen grunted, "LEAVE YOU ALONE? For what? So you can corrupt my sister even further? So you can turn her to your own ends. I would kill her myself before I saw her a tool of Noxus!"

"Look around you Garen!" Katarina replied with exasperation, casting her arm wide, gesturing at the peaceful countryside that surrounded them. "Does this look like Noxus to you?"

"Noxus is where ever you go…You would plant your vile Noxian flag at the gates to the afterlife if you could! I know what you are." He said venomously. "You bewitched Lux just as you tried to bewitch me!"

Katarina laughed coldly.

"So that's what this is about." She muttered quietly. "You never struck me as the jealous type…Why would I need to bewitch you when you were so very eager to throw yourself at me time and again?" She taunted. Garen's visible skin burned red, he bellowed with rage and hurled himself at her once more, slicing wildly with his weapon. His attacks were clumsy and she skipped around them with ease. Deftly she slipped within his reach and swept his legs from underneath him, and as he stumbled back she swiped furiously at him with both hands, her daggers glancing harmlessly of his armour. She retreated allowing him to clamber back to his feet.

"Touched a nerve did I?" She teased, a careless smirk on her lips, although she kept one eye on his sword. "You know that it's true. I never tried to bewitch you - and I certainly never bewitched Lux!... Like I even could." Katarina added, turning again to look at the blonde girl, lying crumpled on the rough wooden floor, the smirk vanished. "I love her." Katarina muttered quietly, and this time she was speaking to herself as much as anyone else.

"Don't make me laugh!" Garen spat. Although from the look on his face, it seemed very much like laughing was the last thing he felt like doing, he looked like he was about to throw up. "You're incapable of love…I know that all too well. You're a cold hearted bitch – you lie, and you twist, and you slither your way inside people's heads –

"I LOVE HER!" Katarina shouted before she could stop herself. Garen sneered at her.

"She's just a stupid little girl who doesn't know what she's doing – she can't see what you are, but I can! I can see what you're doing and I will put an end to it for good."

"Then you really are a fool." Katarina said sadly. "Lux was wasted on your family…" Garen's eyes glinted dangerously.

"Enough of your bullshit." His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword, "You will die here."

He strode forwards once more, but this time she didn't wait for him to strike. She darted forwards slicing wildly at his throat. She had expected him to dodge backwards but instead he twisted his body and stooped low, allowing his heavy shoulder armour to eat the worst of the blow. Katarina reacted instantly; she leapt into the air, somersaulting over another brutal shoulder charge and as Garen's steamed past beneath her she kicked out with both feet, the heels of her leather boots connecting wickedly with the back of his head.

The tank like man was sent sprawling and Katarina saw her opportunity. Her feet had barely touched the ground before she took off again, blinking right on top of him and hailing down upon him with her daggers, slicing viciously at any exposed skin she could find. He squirmed on the ground, covering his head with his arms as he tried to escape the attacks that were raining down on him. Eventually he caught Katarina with a wild kick, forcing her backwards and he clambered heavily back to his feet. The Noxian circled him like a tiger circling wounded prey, and he swayed dangerously on the spot as his eyes tried to track her movements.

Battered and exhausted, Garen was becoming increasingly reckless. He let his fury and his hatred fuel him and he swiped out again and again, but each time his sword found only air and each time Katarina struck back with deadly precision. Her daggers finding less metal and more flesh as she twirled in and out of his reach.

"YOU – NEVER – COULD – BEAT – ME!" She screamed, emphasising each word with yet another blow, the final strike leaving a huge gash down the side of his jaw, his mask of black cloth fell away in bloody tatters. Garen howled in pain, clutching at his face with one of his huge fists, staring with horror as his fingers were stained red.

Katarina stood back, observing her handiwork with grim satisfaction. She was barely even breathing heavily. Again she waited for him to recover. She ran a hand through her flaming hair, her white teeth flashing a savage grin in Garen's direction.

"You can still walk away." She said to him, suddenly very serious. She glanced again at Lux; the mage had managed to haul herself back onto her knees, one hand propping her up, the other massaging her battered skull. She gazed over at the fighting pair with unfocused eyes. The two people she loved most in the entire world locked in a deadly duel; somehow she managed a weak smile in Katarina's direction. The assassin could not hold her gaze, she knew what the other woman must be thinking, and it hurt too much to see the fear twinkling in her big, innocent eyes. There was no happy ending here for her…

The red head turned again to face Garen, staring desperately into his bloodshot eyes. "Please Garen…Please…Just walk away, I'm begging you! For Lux!"

He did not say anything, he merely grunted roughly, spitting blood at his feet. Katarina could find nothing but loathing on his scarred face, but slowly, he turned to look at Lux, and their eyes met across the dock, brown eyes finding blue for the first time, and there was a flicker of something else on his battered face. Regret? There was a deep sadness hidden behind the blood and the dirt and the hate.

Nothing moved except the waves, licking tamely at the wooden jetty, as the two siblings stared into each other's eyes. The two Crownguard's, destined for greatness, lying filthy, bloody, and beaten in some forgotten corner of Runterra, ruined. How had it come to this?

Timidly Lux broke the silence, and as she spoke she realised that she no longer knew who she was talking to. Garen was a relic of the past that she was so desperate to leave behind, he was a stranger from another life…

"It's all true." She said quietly. "Everything Kat has told you is true. I-I love her too… I want to be with her. It's all that I want." The words came surprisingly easily to her. Like a final confession. She had borne that secret for far too long. For too long she had been forced to hide it from the world when all she had wanted was to scream it, to shout it, to feel it… that was truly her greatest deception.

Garen's face instantly hardened. Any trace of empathy or compassion, drowned in a poisonous rush of jealous resentment. Again he spat, a dirty great wodge of phlegm in Lux's direction, splattering grey and red on the planks in front of her. He turned away in disgust and Lux burst into silent tears, burying her face in her hands, her small frame shaking violently as she sobbed.

Without looking at her Garen spoke, his voice disdainful and cold.

"Then you shall watch her die." He said, his dark eyes fixed on Katarina once more. She stared right back at him, his look of utter contempt reflected in her own furious eyes. She gritted her teeth, her fingers flexing dangerously around the hilt of her twin daggers.

Without warning Garen leapt forwards, his heavy sword raised high above his head, his knuckles white as he gripped it with both hands. Katarina had been ready and she easily sprung backwards beyond the reach of his sword, her mind already calculating her counter attack. To her surprise however, something heavy and blunt collided with the small of her back. One of the soldiers had stepped forwards and shunted her with his shield. She yelled out in pain and shock, helpless as a pair of rough hands seized her by the shoulders and shoved her back into Garen's path.

The assassin staggered forwards, her boots skidding slightly on the slimy wood as she struggled to stay upright. A cold shadow fell suddenly over her face and Katarina looked upwards, fear shining in her eyes for first time. Garen hung in the air before her, his huge bulk entirely blocking out the sun, hurtling towards her like misshapen comet, his blade arcing downwards towards crest of her scalp, cold steel whistling death as it neared.

Katarina was frozen in terror. With less than a second before she was cleaved in half, and escape impossible, she did the only thing she could. Her instincts wrestling control of her body from her paralyzed mind, she raised her daggers and crossed them above her head like a shield, her eyes scrunched shut and her head flinched backwards –

And then all was chaos. The world might have ended. Garen smashed down, the whole jetty groaning awfully under the impact. His unwieldy sword, a giant beside Katarina's elegant knives, hammered violently into its dwarf counterparts. The clashing metal sung like church bells, and a shower of white hot sparks cascaded down upon them. The entire tremendous force of the strike was consumed by the tiny steel blades, Katarina clung on for dear life, but it was like trying to cling on to an explosion, the metal burned fiercely against her skin, searing her palms.

Wave after wave of shock shuddered down Katarina's skinny arms and roared through her body like a wild fire, she shuddered and jerked spasmodically like a woman possessed. It was like being struck by lightning. Her whole body screamed out in unbearable agony. Her skin was on fire, her muscles were twisted and contorted to the point of snapping, her bones were surely shattering, but somehow miraculously – madly, she survived.

Through her screwed up eyelids brilliant, golden sunlight poured in, and when her lips parted her lungs were flooded with wonderful cold air. The lethal edge of Garen's sword had never reached her skin, barely deflecting off of her crossed daggers and impaling itself instead, into the soft greying wood of the jetty, sending angry jagged splinters spitting into the air.

Katarina at last lost her grip, the twin knives tearing free from her hands, leaving her skin red raw. At the same time her legs gave way, buckling like twigs beneath her and pitching her forwards onto her knees, her arms swinging loose and feeble at her sides. She rocked backwards and forwards on the spot in a daze, barely clinging to consciousness.

She could see the swell of the sea all around her, up and down like the chest of a sleeping animal, the hypnotic motion made her want to throw up, but everywhere she looked was just the same. Her vision swam, at least three Garen's, stood darkly in front of her, surrounded by hundreds of tiny white stars. They loomed down upon her like some gruesome jack in the box, his face - or rather their faces filling her vision.

She shut her eyes tight, trying to focus on her breathing and fight back the nausea, in and out, in and out, in and out – just as a heavy fist smashed into her face.

She blacked out, it was a wonderful relief, slipping away into cool dark nothingness…but her eyes quickly jerked open again and the pain returned. Someone had her by the hair, pulling her along the ground without concern. She half crawled, was half dragged along the jetty. She felt every tiny bump and scrape in the rough wood, amplified by a thousand against her battered body, as she was forcibly lead along. She scrabbled desperately on her hands and knees to keep up, as her hair was almost wrenched from her scalp. Eventually the hand released her, and a huge boot connected brutally with her back, sending her sprawling once more.

There was a momentary respite and she curled up like a foetus, whimpering in pain and trying to regain some of her strength, any of her strength would be nice, and quickly. She was laid right at the end of the jetty, she could hear the waves more lively now below her, and could feel, cold salty water splashing up through the gaps in the wood, licking at her exposed skin. The water was refreshing, it even revived her slightly, and with enormous effort, her battered brain whirred back into action, trying to formulate some kind of a plan. Before she could even remember her name however the boot struck her again, kicking her viciously in the stomach.

She moaned, rolling onto her back, one arm dangling limply over the end of the jetty, and the tips of her fingers trailing in the waves as she fought for breath. There was laughter from somewhere behind her – or in front of her – or above her, it was impossible to tell, she didn't know what was up and what was down anymore.

It was only grudgingly that she opened her eyes. She was all but beaten, emotionally and physically, and she wanted nothing more than to just lie there forever with her eyes closed and pray that the world forgot about her entirely. Well, maybe not the whole world. There was one, very particular, very blonde person, that she did not want to forget her. The mere thought was heart wrenching, far worse than anything Garen could do to her, worse than death. It was cruel how little time they'd had together, they were so close to escaping all this shit forever. She could not give up on Lux, she wouldn't!

Painfully Katarina hauled herself into a sitting position, propping herself up on her elbows. Everything was still distinctly fuzzy, there was a huge pair of leather boots pacing up and down at her eye level, their every heavy thud was like a gunshot and she felt like her head was splitting open. Mercifully the pacing stopped, but any feeling of relief was short-lived. She scowled up at the sight of Garen looming over her.

"Still with us then?" He growled, flashing his brilliant white teeth in a wide grin, and for a moment he was almost recognizable as his old self. It was the same smile he had worn the first time they had met, and then again at each of their secretive rendezvous – she shuddered at the thought. It was sickening, now, to think of all she had endured, all she had done…for Noxus. How had she been so blind for so long.

"Good. It's far more fun this way." He said, and she recoiled as he crouched down beside her. "Stand up, what your father think if he knew you died lying in dirt." He stretched out and grabbed a hand full of her hair again, yanking roughly upwards. She slapped his hand away venomously, her hatred giving her strength; she got shakily but defiantly to her feet, her pain and exhaustion forgotten. She would not die like a dog.

And so she stood proudly at the end of the jetty, nowhere left to run, behind her only a few paces and a short fall separated her from the tireless infinity of pearly blue water. And in front of her Garen, standing between her and her happiness, as he had done, unwittingly, for so very long. The wind stirred gently in her crimson hair, it fell dishevelled about her face, cutting across her pale skin like angry scars, her actual scar looked dull by comparison. She snarled up at his once handsome face, cold hatred blistering in her eyes. Her small hands were balled into tight fists at her side.

Garen observed her struggle with interest.

"A fiery bitch until the very end…" He muttered, a twisted smile creeping onto his thick lips.

"Fuck you." She said simply, and spat at him.

"How fitting…" He laughed, brushing her saliva off his armour carelessly. Then suddenly, he changed, his face fell serious, his teeth gritted in hard concentration and his dull eyes suddenly glinted with violent excitement. Without taking his eyes off of the assassin, he heaved his sword up from the ground, nursing its weight fondly in both hands. "I should have done this a long time ago." And without hesitation he lunged powerfully forwards, his whole towering body thrust behind the attack.

Katarina scarcely had time to brace herself. Her heart was pounding a furious drum beat in her chest and she could feel it all through her body, she could feel every feverish pulse of life rippling across her skin, she could hear it thundering in her ears, along with a tiny, scared voice - This is the end. This is the end. This is the end. – She tried to think of something good, anything good, something warm and comforting that she could cling to, but she was too terrified to think. She wanted desperately to close her eyes, but she fought the impulse, a last futile act of rebellion, she would die free, she would stare death in the face, she was Katarina Du Couteau.

So her eyes remained wide open, as the diamond sharp tip of the sword sliced towards her, startling green glistening brighter than ever with bravery and fear.

And then she died.

She heard the sound of her gasp, her final precious breath escaping her lips. She heard the hideous sound of the metal ripping into her flesh. She saw pure white light and livid red blood.

But she felt nothing…No all-consuming, unfathomable pain. No pain at all actually, if this was dying, it wasn't at all bad. It was almost disappointing… but then seconds, slowly passed, and with every heartbeat, she became more doubtful - her heart was still beating…How was her heart still beating? She could feel it against her chest, as fast and as strong as ever, and now that she thought about it she was still breathing as well, her chest rising and falling again and again and again. She could feel the cool breeze on the back of her neck! She could still feel her body's every ache and sigh from the fight with Garen and she could even feel the hot wet tears rolling down her cheeks! If she could feel then…she was still alive!

But what? How? For the first time she looked around properly, and her amazement turned to utter bewilderment. She looked down at her own body, dismayed to find that she was covered in blood - was she dying after all? - but the shock soon subsided and she quickly realised there was no wound, not so much as a scratch. She didn't understand…

She looked up. There was the sword. Quivering in the air, its point only inches from Katarina's chest. It too was covered in blood, dripping in blood, down to the floor where it pooled at Katarina's feet, soaking into the old wood of the jetty, and creeping slowly between the gaps, trickling into the ocean. None of this made any sense…

And then there was Garen himself, still clinging to the hilt of his weapon, body frozen mid thrust, face frozen in his triumph - his triumph at stabbing…the air? At murdering the air? What was going on, why had he stopped, why was there so much blood? She could not understand…

She turned helplessly to Lux. Lux would have the answer. Lux would understand, just as she always did. There was no one cleverer. Lux would be able to make sense of it all…

Except she was no longer there…

Katarina gawped open mouthed at the spot where the blonde girl had collapsed - she wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere! Katarina's eyes flashed wildly, scouring the whole dock, but there wasn't a trace of her friend in sight. Panic rose in her chest, her head beginning to pound again, none of this made any fucking sense! What the fuck was happening? Had she died after all? Was this all part of some bizarre incensing purgatory?

She looked once again, to Garen, desperate confusion on her face, her crazed stare a silent accusation, a demand for answers.

This time however, she was distracted. She looked closer, and she noticed more. It was not triumph on Garen's rugged features, not satisfaction, or confusion, or even anger…but horror. Pure, unadulterated, unmistakable horror. He stared at Katarina, or at least, he stared in Katarina's vague direction, but his eyes were wide and sightless, disbelieving.

It was as though he gazed with unguarded eyes, into the very heart of the void, into its rotting, twisted core of evil and pain and suffering. He was no longer the furious, vengeful man – the might of Demacia, fallen – that he had been only moments before, but a child. A vulnerable and lonely child, caught in the icy grips of despair, frozen in fear, staring spellbound into the soulless eyes of some unseen terror.

Katarina was stunned; despite everything she felt an impossible surge of sympathy for the man. She was haunted by his expression. It sent shivers of fear up her spine and an avalanche of icy Goosebumps rippling along her bare arms. She gazed wearily up at him, all her rage forgotten, she was suddenly strangely anxious, although she did not know why.

She was unsure of what to do, of what to think, even of what to feel. Her mind was utterly blank – or maybe utterly full, a field of virginal snow, or tiny room jammed with loud, agitated people, each trying to shout louder than the next. Either way it made little difference. Her confusion was hopeless, insurmountable, her thoughts were like mud. She still could not understand what the fuck was happening.

She knew nothing…nothing except that she was suddenly incredibly scared. Impossibly scared. More scared than she had ever been in her life. It was as though whatever invisible devastation wracked Garen was passing close to her, and she could sense its presence, feel its heinous, rank breath on the back of her neck…

There was something nagging away in the back of her mind. She was missing something…Something obvious, so obvious it might as well have been right in front of her-

Suddenly her heart stopped, and her breath caught in her throat. Something clicked.

- _right in front of her-_

 _-invisible-_

And then she saw it…The peculiar way that light was shimmering on Garen's skin, on his armour, on his matted hair…his image was oddly distorted, as though seen through a sheet of crystal glass. It was almost impossible to notice… An idea had appeared in her head, an idea too horrible to even contemplate, but now that it was there she could not shake it. It was burrowed deep like the roots of some unwanted weed. It couldn't be true. Was she merely imagining it? Were her eyes still playing tricks on her?

She glanced downwards at her own body, raising a hand and flexing her long fingers before her eyes, examining it thoroughly. Then she raised the other hand and repeated the process, panic swelling in her chest. There was nothing, her own skin looked completely normal…

Her jade eyes were full of dread as they flickered slowly upwards again – she had seen this before…she knew what she was looking at! - Back up towards Garen. Silently pleading, praying…

"No…" She breathed, her voice barely a whisper. "Oh God no…please no, no, no, NO, NO!" As if in answer to her voice, the scene before her began to change. Suddenly she fell silent again, her shouts stifled by a terrible lamenting gasp, her own gasp, as she almost choked on her own despair. She was breaking down, her whole body shaking uncontrollably, tears flooding unashamedly down her cheeks, her mouth gaping wide and red lips trembling. She stood rooted to the spot in horror, powerless to do anything but watch as the truth revealed itself.

It was the single most terrible, and yet also most mesmerising thing she had ever witnessed. It was impossible to look away.

In a twinkle of breath-taking golden light, Lux's small form materialized slowly around the sword.

In reality it all happened in a heartbeat, but to Katarina it seemed to last an eternity, it was excruciating. She felt like her own heart was being ripped out of her chest in great shreds – this, surely, was dying, nothing could be worse –

But finally the celestial golden light died away, along with the last traces of the magic that had kept Lux invisible for so long, and the truth of what had happened was clear for all to see.

All was still. In a single sigh of the wind, as sudden as the falling of the last leaf of autumn, it was as though they had all been enveloped in a biting merciless winter. The warm summers evening was forgotten. The sun was blotted out in the sky, the rolling waves froze into hard black ice, the air was razor sharp, cold as the breath of the watchers themselves, and their own breath hung in the air like a solemn pearly mist. Their very blood turned to ice in their veins.

Lux was surely dead… dying at the very least. The sword had caught her right in the stomach, impaled her clean through the middle. She hung from the blade like some perverse imitation of a child's doll, her dainty feet dangling just above the ground. Her shoulders were slack, arms hanging limp at her sides. One hand was angled delicately forwards, fingers outstretched tentatively towards her brother. Her head was tilted slightly to one side, swaying gently on her neck as though with the breeze, and her fair, golden hair fell in light curls over her shoulders, the tips brushing against the bloody mess in the small of her back, dying them crimson and matting them together. Her face was deathly pale, blue eyes wide and staring and her mouth formed a small circle of surprise.

For seconds no one moved, there wasn't a sound apart from Lux's soft groans, but then the spell was suddenly broken, and the world roared back to life. The waves clawed at the jetty with unprecedented vigour, there were yells and cries of surprise from the soldiers, somewhere above them shrouded by the perfect blue of the sky, a bird even dared to sing, but Katarina's desperate sobs were louder than it all, wild tormented cries, ringing out like an ancient, sorrowful hymn.

Only Garen remained silent. Only Garen remained still. He didn't even blink, just standing there, his face frozen in the same horror-stricken mask, perfectly oblivious to the chaos that surrounded him. His dark eyes were fixed uncertainly on his younger sister, as if he could not quite believe she was there. He was struck dumb, unable to move, even as her blood ran through his fingers.

She was losing a lot of the blood. The wound was like a hideous fountain and the bleeding showed little sign of letting up, with every passing moment the little remaining colour in her skin was draining away. The cries and shouts were getting louder now, more urgent; the soldiers looking to their leader for instruction, Katarina was hysterical, jabbering madly, half to herself, half directed at Garen, she was caught in some feverish prayer.

To Garen it was like an annoying buzzing in his ear that he could not shake off, unintelligible but getting ever louder. Then there was a new noise, loud and intrusive, it shook him from his trance.

The low growl of an engine from out on the water, a ship was rounding the headlands. To call it a ship was being generous, had it not been for the plume of foul black smoke that churned out from, what could only be assumed was its funnel, the whole thing could have been easily mistaken for a heap of mouldering drift wood.

In actuality it was a small trawling boat, so ancient that it still used steam rather than hextech, and it looked like it must have been patched up and repaired at least a hundred times. It was a small miracle that the thing was even afloat, but even so it made steady progress towards the dock, cutting drunkenly through the waves.

To Garen, it might well have been the pride of the Noxian war fleet rounding the cliffs towards them; such was the effect it had on him. His face fell and he stumbled backwards in alarm. He still held his sword firmly in hand, and Lux cried out in pain as the rough metal was wrenched clear of her flesh. Yet more of the precious little life that lingered within Lux, was lost in a spray of lurid red paint, and the small mage began to fall.

She fell as if in slow motion, a fine mist of her own blood echoing her descent, she stretched a hand out towards the heavens, fingers clawing at the air.

Even in her despair Katarina reacted instantly. She had eyes only for Lux – In the background there was commotion: Garen's bulky silhouette hastily backing into the rabble of his own soldier, barging them aside, and over her shoulder the trawler was closing in, but none of this mattered to the assassin. Without hesitation she darted forwards to meet the falling girl, her own arms outstretched, body tensed.

She caught Lux under the arms, all the breath knocked from her chest as Lux crashed into her arms. The blonde girl's legs buckled the instant they touched the ground leaving Katarina struggling to support her entire weight – Katarina was strong, and Lux was only small but even so her body was a dead weight in the red heads arms…She didn't linger on the implications of this…She could not afford to. If there was even the slightest chance of saving Lux, she could not lose control. She had to forget her misery, and her fear, and her anger, even the pain of her own aching body. None of it mattered if Lux died. She could not die…

Katarina reached down and swept Lux of her feet completely, gritting her teeth as a fresh wave of pain shot down her straining arms. She cradled her like a baby, one arm hooked under legs and the other around her shoulders, supporting Lux's lolling head with an elbow. Her arm brushed Lux's neck and a shiver of dread trickled down Katarina's spine; the other woman's skin was icy to the touch.

She wheeled round to face the ocean, shielding Lux from her fellow Demacians with her own body. It was against her every instinct to turn her back to her enemy, let alone a group of enemies, but Lux's needs were far greater than her own. With immense care she lowered Lux's frail whimpering form to the floor, laying her gently on the wooden planks. She then knelt, sitting back on the heels of her boots, with Lux's head resting in her lap.

Katarina gazed down at her friend. She could almost have been sleeping, her bloodless face was quite peaceful, eyes half closed, lips lightly parted – but then there was the gaping wound in her stomach…The assassin wasted several priceless seconds, just staring, transfixed in fear, at the wound; there was so much blood! It was overwhelming; she didn't know what to do…

But then Lux shuddered violently, her head snapping up off Katarina knees, coughing and retching, her ghostly pale hands clutched to her abdomen. Katarina snapped out of her helpless stupor in an instant, her desperate need to ease Lux's pain far stronger than her own anxiety and fear.

Gently but firmly she pushed Lux back and made her lie still. She leant in close, the tips of her scarlet hair tickling Lux's cheeks as she reached over her and delicately removed the mage's hands from the wound, easing her arms back down by her sides. When she leant back she did not let go, her fingers weaved amongst Lux's, her thumb caressing the back of her hand. Her other hand ran soothingly over the blonde girls icy forehead.

Katarina leant in again.

"It's going to be ok." She whispered, so close that only Lux could hear her words – that was if she could still hear…there was a tiny trickle of blood escaping from the corner of mouth. "I'm going to fix you. I promise. We're going to be together. It's going to be ok." The red head struggled to sound comforting, to sound assured, but she could not help the edge of desperation that crept into her voice. She barely believed her own words. She did not know how to fix this.

Katarina sat up and wiped the fresh tears from her eyes, she ran the same hand distractedly through her hair, struggling fiercely to keep herself from falling apart – She had to stay focused!

Reluctantly she let go of Lux's hand and the other woman purred with disappointment.

"Don't worry, I'm still here, I'm going to help." Katarina said hurriedly, glad that Lux could not see the less than reassuring expression on her face. With difficulty she began to shrug off her old leather jacket, trying hard not to disturb Lux as she did so. At last she managed to yank the thing free of her studded wrist guard, leaving her arms and shoulders bear but for the faded tattoo that snaked up her torso; black flames creeping up her exposed midriff, disappearing beneath the brown leather of her corset and then clawing back around her shoulder blades.

She felt more vulnerable than ever, suddenly acutely aware of the delicacy of her own skin; she tried not to think about the small army of enemies lurking close behind her, with their wide selection of lethally sharp weapons. None of whom would think twice about slitting her open…

Katarina shook herself. She couldn't worry about that, all of her energy was being exuded worrying about Lux – besides, they hadn't attacked her yet. Maybe Garen had lost his nerve?

The assassin took her jacket in her hands, rolling the leather tightly into a makeshift bandage. She leant forwards over Lux's body once more, wincing apologetically as she coaxed the mages back up off the ground. Lux gave the most awful groan; her hands scrabbled for purchase on the jetty floor, finger nails scratching at the rough wood.

"Shhhhh….Shhhh." Katarina said, desperately trying to comfort Lux. "Shhhhh…Please! It's ok! This will only take a second...shh." But the blonde girl writhed worse than ever in Katarina's lap, each of her pained whimpers stabbing at the red head's heart. "I'm so sorry…" She begged, continuing her work, her pink tongue poked out the side of her mouth in concentration and there were fresh tears streaking down her face, her hands fumbling as she wrapped the jacket tightly around the wound.

At last she managed to knot it in place.

"Ok ok, it's done! There you go…" Katarina sighed with relief as she gently lowered the other woman back to the ground. She took each of Lux's hands in her own once more, she never wanted to let go again. She bent down and planted a kiss on her clammy forehead. "It's going to be ok." She said again, unable to mask the shake in her voice, it was impossible to believe her own words.

She looked miserably down at her handiwork and all she could think was how spectacularly inadequate it was – her dirty old, battle worn jacket– how spectacularly inadequate SHE was. She was an Assassin! Not a fucking healer! It was hopeless, how did she not know how to fix this? Why had she never bothered to learn basic fucking medical aid!

-That answer was all too simple: Until now she had never had anyone else that she wanted so desperately to save. She had always been alone. Dependant on no one, and dependable to no one, but now…now she had Lux and it was too fucking late! She would soon be alone again…

If Lux didn't get medical attention soon, proper medical attention...Katarina shuddered at the thought. Lux couldn't die; it was too soon, they had come too far. It wasn't fair…

Then she remembered the ship…Yes the ship! She looked up and there it was, floating precariously just a little way out amongst the rolling waves, so close now that she could see shadowy figures moving about on the deck. As she looked, there was the flash of brilliant light from the bow, the sun glinting in a telescopic lens. Someone was watching them.

Lux had been waiting for a boat…This must be it; her escape, her one way ticket into a new life. Gods only knew who they were, and Katarina could only guess; fisherman, pirates, mercenaries… it didn't matter who they were. She knew how these things worked, the less both parties knew the better it was for everyone. There were never any names, never any questions, just the silent exchange of gold.

This was the answer! If she could just get Lux on that boat, get her away from Garen and his thugs, they might be able to get her help. They could go to Piltover, or Zaun even, surely somewhere in that writhing mess of life there would be someone who could help them…Surely somewhere-

Hope was starting to stir within her, strange and unfamiliar after so much pain and despair, like the first glimmer of dawn after the longest and darkest of nights – It was quashed almost instantly. Even as Katarina watched, the old boat lurched around, so sharply that it almost pitched over onto its side, before it started steaming back the way it had come, as fast as its derelict engine would carry it.

Whatever Lux was paying them, it evidently wasn't enough, not to get involved in this bloody mess. They had taken one look at the scene on the dock: the apparently dead girl, lying limp and lifeless in the arms of the Noxian assassin, both women soaked in blood…and then there was the mob of heavily armed, dangerous looking men… It was enough to discourage even the most daring of outlaws.

Katarina watched it until it was little more than a rolling black cloud on the horizon, and then it disappeared altogether…With it went her last hope. She was left helpless, facing the inevitable. She clutched Lux's hands tighter than ever in her own, looking desperately down at her friend – her love. Tears rolled silently down her cheeks as she gazed into those beautiful, vacant eyes.

Now more than even she needed Lux; her selfless heart and her fearless smile, she needed her guidance, and her comfort, and her love!

The mage was simultaneously the most familiar, and the most elusive person that she had ever met. Even now after all they had been through Katarina still felt like she barely even knew the other woman…but at the same time she felt like she had known her for her entire life. She could hardly remember her life before Lux; it didn't seem real, faded memories flickered in her brain like an old and distorted film. She felt so detached from it all, scarcely able to recognise the places and the people that she saw… even herself.

She no longer knew the girl that she had once been…Who even was she without Lux? She wasn't anything. She was obsolete, an empty shell, a speck of dust. Her life before Lux wasn't worth remembering and a future without Lux didn't bear thinking about…Life without the golden haired girl was no life at all…

Katarina let her forehead rest lightly against Lux's, holding her tightly, breathing in the soft scent of the other woman's hair even as her own silent tears seeped amongst the golden strands.

She was an enigma…the only person that had ever truly beaten her, and she had beaten her so completely, broken her so perfectly, that now the very thought of losing her was unbearable. She could not live without Lux.

The assassin could hear the low murmuring voices of the Demacian soldiers, and the dull rattling of their armour as they closed in on her, but she didn't move. She stayed completely still, her eyes shut, hugging Lux's limp form close to her own. She listened fervently for every shallow breath, felt for every faint pulse with the same icy terror in her heart, dreading the moment of silence and stillness that would mean Lux had left her forever.

She didn't want to fight anymore…she didn't have the energy, or the strength, or the heart. Violence was all she had ever known and this was where it had led her. She just wanted to be with Lux…to hold her, to hear her voice, for whatever sorry time they still had…

Why couldn't they all just leave them alone! She wished they would just leave, but they did not. She could feel their presence hanging over her like some poisonous cloud, intruding on this moment – this moment that should have been private, just Lux and Katarina quietly losing their minds together –but they didn't leave. She could feel every one of their hateful eyes trained on her back; she could see their stupid, sneering facings looming out of the darkness at the back of her mind. They were mocking her, mocking Lux, laughing at their miserable fate and their naïve attempt at happiness.

Even now they would not let them escape the shackles they were born into, their pathetic little lives consumed in a war they had never chosen, lives that had never truly been their own. It had all been for nothing. Their fight had been futile. In the end no amount of love, or hope, or defiance could liberate them from who they were. Their desperate story, their secret revolution, their condemned love…the entire tumultuous affair would die with them, their struggle forgotten and their wasted hearts impaled proudly for the rest of time, beneath the flags of their two 'great' nations.

Demacia and Noxus…arch enemies…opposite in every way… but in the end no different at all.

Well fuck them…fuck them all! They had taken so much from her…left her with nothing, nothing left to lose…They would not steal away their last moments together!

Katarina slowly raised her head, and her eyes blinked open, cold and furious. A blinding light rushed over her. The sun had slipped down below the line of the sea, splitting like the yolk of an egg, its magnificent light bursting in every direction. The sky bled yellow and orange, pink and red, and ripples of gold raced out across the tranquil water. It was breathtakingly beautiful and Katarina's rage briefly faltered…to look out at such a brilliant horizon, a sky dancing with so much life, over Lux's weak and fading body…It was the saddest thing she had ever seen.

She shook herself out of it, and with a last loving stroke of Lux's hair wriggled out from beneath the other woman, easing Lux's head back down where she lay eerily still on the wooden floor of the jetty. Katarina got slowly to her feet. She did not bother to wipe away the single fat tear that clung to her cheek. With reluctance she turned away from the sea and the sun – away from Lux. She turned away from the warmth and the light, to face the dark, to face her oppressors. They stood before her like a line of toy soldiers.

The world seemed suddenly very dull, her own shadow stretched out long in front of her as though it trying to escape. She felt the warmth of the sun tickling the bare parts of her back and she longed to turn around, to surrender herself to its comforting embrace, but she knew that she couldn't, not yet. She needed to finish this.

One by one she fixed each man with her chilling stare; one by one she wordlessly condemned them each to their fate. Garen was nowhere to be seen, but if this surprised her, she did not show it, she doubted anything could surprise her anymore. The 'Might of Demacia' had vanished without a trace, presumably fled, unable to face what he had done…

"Fucking coward!" Katarina spat under her breath. Her hatred for Garen burned fierce as the evening sun. She yearned for his blood, to make him pay for all he had done to Lux – to them both. She needed him to feel her pain and her despair, she would tear his beating heart from his chest and crush it in the palm of her hand. He didn't deserve life, he didn't even deserve death. Katarina would break his body until there was nothing left to break, and then she would break his mind, shatter his very soul. She would not rest until he was just as broken and as empty as she was…

But he was gone…he was gone, and hunting him down would not save Lux. Killing him would not bring her back. Lux would not have wanted her brother dead, not at Katarina's hand, not at all. She would have forgiven him.

Katarina felt an overwhelming pang of Love for her fallen friend, her heart felt like it might explode in her chest. Lux was a better person than Katarina could ever dream of being; she should not be the one that lay dying in this forgotten place. She deserved so much more…

Katarina turned instead to the soldiers, they were the only ones left for her to blame. All that stood between Katarina and the crushing weight of her own guilt and sorrow.

They were closing in on her cautiously, weapons drawn and ready, what little could be seen of their faces was damp with sweat, their heavy black armour a burden in the suns dying warmth. Katarina tensed, ready to fight, her mind calculating her options. The Demacians had every advantage: they had her massively outnumbered; they had her surrounded, a blade pointed at her from every angle; and she was still recovering from her fight with Garen…A savage grin spread across her lips. They didn't stand a chance.

The soldiers halted as one, only a couple of paces between the Noxian and their raised swords. One of their number stepped forwards. He addressed Katarina in a loud, authoritative bark.

"D-Don't try anything foolish Noxian! Surrender and your death will be painless." Katarina merely laughed, her smile growing wider, flashing her brilliant teeth.

"That might be slightly more intimidating if your hand wasn't shaking like a lotus flower." She quipped, and the man scowled furiously, his skin reddening beneath the steely metal of his helmet. He gripped his weapon even tighter, his knuckles white around the swords hilt. Katarina took advantage of the man's flustered silence.

"Why don't you all follow in the footsteps of your 'brave and noble' leader, and fuck off!" Katarina continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm, trying to summon her usual brazen spirit but falling slightly flat. "If you go right this second, and leave us in peace, a few of you might yet live!" She said. The old Katarina would have killed them all without a moment's thought; Lux really had changed her…

Her words, a clumsy attempt at being merciful, only riled the soldier up even more however, and his stormy temper raced to the aid of his wounded pride. He gave a great booming laugh, bristling with forced bravado and looking round to his comrades for support; a few half-hearted laughs rippled along their line. The other Demacians didn't seem to find the situation funny in the slightest; his weren't the only hands that had been trembling, and most of the soldiers were eyeing Katarina wearily.

The man kept his laugh going a little too long for it to be convincing and Katarina stifled a yawn as she waited for the charade to finish.

"As gracious as your offer is," He began, and as expected there wasn't a trace of humour in his venomous voice, (his voice that was noticeably higher pitched than before). "It is you who should fear for your life. We are not going anywhere!"

Katarina gave a casual shrug that only infuriated the Demacian even more and when he continued he was almost shouting.

"NOXIAN BITCH! WE WILL SLAY YOU AND THEN WE WILL FINISH OFF YOUR TREACHOROUS PET WHORE!"

The smile was wiped instantly from Katarina's face, replaced with an ugly snarl of hatred. She stared at the man with unblinking fury, her eyes low and dangerous and the old scar positively twitching on her cheek.

"Try saying that again." She said quietly, her fingers flexing at her sides.

The soldier looked delighted that he had finally managed to provoke her, he gave a smug smile of satisfaction before he spoke again, clearly and deliberately, so there could be no mistake.

"Actually…" He began, his beady eyes fixed on the assassin, malicious and hungry. He was clearly savouring his words. "I think I will let you live, just long enough that you can watch…watch as I crush the life from your dear Lux…" Katarina was breathing very heavily; cold death blossomed in her green eyes. "I will put her down like the weak…depraved…whor-

He never finished speaking, the last words stuck in his throat. Try as he might he couldn't make a sound. Confusion swelled in his mind and then he was coughing, and spluttering, desperately trying to speak, his confusion rapidly turned to panic as he gasped for air, desperately trying to breathe! And then at last he managed to dislodge the words that blocked his airway…but it wasn't words, it was hot and viscous and it gushed free in a murderous frenzy, like water from burst dam. It was blood.

It had only taken her a second, a single blink of the eye, and she had appeared behind him with impossible speed. She had ended his hateful torrent of words in the only way she knew how; a single surgical slash across his throat, and now she took her other dagger and plunged it deep into his spine – This was unnecessary, the first cut would have certainly killed him, but she had wanted to do it, it felt good. It was for Lux.

Katarina allowed herself only a moment to savour the man's final silence. The other soldiers were in disarray, scrambling over themselves and each other, a perfect storm of chaos panic and confusion, but finally they were beginning to realise what was happening. Even as they lunged towards Katarina she took to the air, leaping upwards and kicking hard off the man's back, she twirled backwards through the air and landed beyond their reach, several feet away, crouched and ready.

The first soldier smashed to his knees before pitching forwards into a pool of his own blood. He was dead before he hit the ground, the ghost of his arrogant excitement still lingered in his staring eyes.

The remaining Demacians were in shambles, clumped up in a frenzied horde, several of them had thrown themselves at the space that Katarina had until so recently occupied and they now lay in a heap, the others stood nearby in an agitated daze. They scrambled desperately to regroup and to reorganize but it was already too late.

Katarina rose coolly to her full height, her wild hair was ablaze in the full light of the sun and her pale skin shimmering like snow. She consulted the group of doomed Demacians, almost with sadness, but then she took a deep steadying breath and her eyes fell closed as she prepared for her final and deadliest dance. She let her instincts steady her hand and her rage fuel her movements as she began her sinister pirouette, moving faster and faster until she was little more than a blur of black and white and brilliant red.

She was a hurricane of blood and blood was all she found. Metal sang like the wind at the heart of the fiercest tempest, as dagger after dagger sliced through the air and found its mark. The Demacians were cut down where they stood, and their final animal cries rang true; wails groans and whimpers playing an awful requiem in the warm evening air. One by one they crumpled away, a dozen hardened soldiers folding like origami as the life was punched out of them.

It was over in a matter of seconds, the last of the Demacians struck down as he lunged desperately towards Katarina, his broken body falling amongst his comrades. They were all certainly dead, their rigid bodies littered the dock and their blood ran in rivers along the wooden planks but Katarina did not stop. Still she span and still the daggers flew, impaling themselves indiscriminately in wood and flesh alike.

To find the strength she needed to fight she had given herself over to her emotions and now they consumed her, she was out of control, beyond all reason and hope. With every turn, every throw, more anger pain and despair escaped the cramped confines of her soul and burst free, erupting into the world in relentless barrage of furious missiles. She was the epicentre of the storm, the white hot core of the explosion, wild and destructive…

But the more powerful a storm, the sooner it must burn itself out, and this was no exception. Eventually, in a terrible scream of raw emotion, Katarina just stopped. She staggered wildly forwards, barely keeping her feet, almost lurching over the edge of the jetty and into the water. Reaching blindly in front of her she managed to find a crate with her searching fingers, and she lent heavily against it for support.

She hung her head, staring groggily down into tumbling water as she panted for breath; the perfect turquoise was corrupted by a ghostly mist of muddy red, rolling like a fog amongst the gentle waves. Without warning, Katarina was suddenly and violently sick over the edge of the jetty, doubling up and clinging desperately to the crate with her finger nails. When it was finally over Katarina swung back around, leaning her back against the crate and looking anywhere but down - in the end she shut her eyes. She was breathing like someone who was scared that they might forget how to do it, each breath heavy and uneven; she sucked greedily at the fresh, clean air.

Her heart was still racing in her chest; she could feel its angry beat shuddering through every inch of her body. She was so weak that every beat threatened to send her toppling over. Her scarlet hair was a dishevelled mess, plastered all across her face, and there was a glistening sheen of the sweat on her bare skin. Her legs felt like they had melted away inside the sticky leather of her leggings and her feet, if there was anything left of them inside her heavy boots, felt like they were on fire.

All of this was nothing compared to the aching emptiness that she felt inside. She couldn't bring herself to move, to think, or even to feel, she just stood there, slumped against her crate in a numb and sluggish daze. Time slipped lazily by, she was dimly aware of the sun's heat on the back of her head, and then it moved on. The world in front of her gradually succumbed to shadow as night rolled in.

A faint coughing pulled her from her trance, and she looked up, blinking dumbly, slightly surprised to find that she was still alive – She could not help but feel a twinge of disappointment. For a moment she thought she might have imagined the noise, but then she heard it again. She rolled her shoulders experimentally, kneading the back of her neck with her hand, a grimace of discomfort flickering across her face. Her whole body ached, ached like she had fallen face first down Mount Targon… but at least she could still move.

She turned around, decidedly unoptimistic about what she might find, a familiar weariness hanging over her, a weariness born from the ashes of her shattered hope.

The horizon was on fire, the sun little more than a sliver of gold, all but swallowed by the seething black waves, but its light fought on, a kaleidoscope of colour. Great streaks of orange, pink, and red slashed violently across the darkening sky, piercing the dusky blue of the impending night like great living tendrils as the sun tried to abate its slow descent into oblivion.

The affect was quite spectacular, but Katarina was not looking at the sky. She had eyes only for one thing. The jetty stretched out in front of her, past all the bodies and the blood and the violence, right out to sea, where the world could almost have been peaceful. The very tip of the jetty was framed by the setting sun, and squinting against the blinding wall of light, Katarina saw a shimmer of gold – a shimmer of gold that burned brighter than the sun itself, a colour more pure than any other she could see.

Slowly, purposefully, Katarina started towards it. She trod a careful path through the bodies of the fallen Demacians, the ground was slick with their blood, and the sole of her boots were skidding dangerously but she never looked down. As she walked further on she left them behind her, she left the battle behind her, she left everything behind her, and suddenly it was just her and Lux, and the waves and the sunset.

She stood over Lux's body. The Golden haired mage lay still, in a halo of sunlight, the last rays of the sun falling like a blanket of her battered body, dancing in her hair and twinkling on her pallid cheek. For a moment Katarina just watched her sorrowfully. She was apparently unconscious, her eyes were closed and a small pained frown had settled on her youthful face. She was mewling and fidgeting, like a sleeping animal in the midst of a troubling dream.

She was still alive. Katarina barely even felt any relief before she was overwhelmed once again by dread…How long did they have? However long it was it would never be enough…she couldn't waste a single second.

On an impulse, Katarina walked to the side of the jetty. The small boat that she had noticed earlier was still there, bobbing quietly in the water, tethered to the jetty by a tatty length of rope. Kneeling down she managed to tug the thing closer, so that it was floating right beneath her. Several sacks lay strewn about its small hull and one by one Katarina hauled them free and placed them on the jetty. She ignored her aching limbs as she dragged the sacks over to Lux's head, where she arranged them into a small pile.

Katarina straightened up and wiped the sweat from her brow. She stood with her hands on her hips and looked at her crude creation. It probably wasn't quite as luxurious as the Demacian palaces Lux had grown up in but in the circumstances, it would have to do.

Lux purred as Katarina settled down beside her, sitting back against the sacks. To the assassin's aching and bruised body it was blissfully comfortable. With a delicacy almost unimaginable from the same person who had just cut down a small army of soldiers, she eased Lux up off the ground and pulled the other woman into her bosom. She wrapped an arm tight around Lux's slender shoulders.

They sat together in warmth of the dying sun, the only sound that of the glistening waves as they rolled in all around them. Their docile silence was a mark of solemn understanding, their final resignation to the cruel inevitability of fate. They had come so very far, fought exhaustingly against every little thing that had stood between them – against each other, against themselves even, and they had almost won. But fate was a cruel mistress, especially cruel in their case. Like a spiteful and vindictive Goddess she had watched their pitiful struggle with bored amusement, knowing all along how it was doomed to end.

Even so, Katarina felt oddly at peace. She held Lux close, watched her head sway with the rise and fall of her own chest, gently stroking her silky golden hair, and listening attentively to the soft whisper of her breath. She knew that she never had to let her go again, and the thought was like a warm breeze across the cold tundra of her heart.

It wasn't quite happiness…that was not possible, she might never feel true happiness again, but in this moment they were together, and whilst they were, the darkness could never totally consume her. There would always be light; there would always be hope.

"It's beautiful isn't it…"Lux's voice melted into Katarina's thoughts, so soft it could have been a dream. She gave a startled gasp, her hand stalling in its incessant stroking of Lux's hair. "…the sky I mean." Lux added, her voice a little stronger this time, she shifted her position in Katarina's lap and gazed earnestly up into the other woman's face.

Katarina didn't know what to say, she found herself unwilling to meet her friends eye, and instead she made to look out at the sunset, blinking back the tears that stung her eyes. She could only nod meekly, and hope that Lux did not notice the deep sadness on her face. Katarina had been sure that she would never hear that lovely voice ever again…it was like the sweetest music in the world to her ears, instantly lifting her heavy heart so that it soared, lighter than air… but now she faced losing it all over again. She wasn't sure she could cope…

"You're beautiful." Lux said quietly and Katarina could no longer help it, she looked down. Lux was smiling timidly up at her and Katarina was instantly lost in the bright, endless blue of her eyes. There were silent tears pouring down the assassin's cheeks, and an impossible, irrepressible smile twisted on her lips. It was both the happiest and the saddest she had ever felt. Raw, devastating emotion consumed her and she never wanted it to end.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She tried and tried again, desperate to convey to Lux just how much she meant to her, to say just how lost she would be without her, to say how beautiful she was – desperate to say anything! She couldn't make a sound. She couldn't find the words; there were no words to say how she felt about Lux! Her mouth flapped uselessly –

"I know." Lux said looking intently into her eyes. "Of course I know."

And then Lux kissed her, reaching up she hooked her arms around the back of Katarina's neck and pulled their lips together. In an instant, all of the redhead's pain and fear had disappeared, her eyelids fluttered closed. For those few, desperately short seconds, Katarina was in heaven.

Too soon it was over. Lux fell heavily back into her lap groaning with pain and panting for breath.

 _The huge effort of holding her wounded body up, even for a few short seconds, was almost too much and Lux teetered on the edge of consciousness. Whether her eyes were open or closed she did not know, the darkness called to her, it engulfed her, peaceful and inviting. She was slipping away, she was falling…_

Katarina came crashing back to earth, the dizzying moment of ecstasy shattered into a million pieces under the cold, blunt weight of her reality. Her eyes flashed instantly open, blinded momentarily by the sun and her own frenzied fear. She gripped Lux's shoulders as tightly as she dared, fighting against her own primitive instincts to shake the girl, to squeeze her, to slap her! – Anything that might stop the light in her eyes from fading, anything to make her fight just a little longer. There was nothing she wouldn't do to keep Lux there with her.

"Lux! Lux please…" Katarina said, an awful crack in her voice. "Please Lux don't go!" she whimpered. "I love you…so fucking much..."

 _Lux heard Katarina's voice. She heard her calling her name from somewhere above, far above her head. It was as though she was at the bottom of the ocean and Katarina was floating high amongst the clouds. Her voice was so distant, so quiet and fuzzy, and yet Lux could hear the tormented tremor in every syllable. She could feel the other woman's desperation and despair like a trickle of icy water down her own spine, it burned in her heart like wild fire, and it burned back the darkness that surrounded her._

"Mhhhmmm." Lux groaned, expending a huge effort to make any noise at all. "I can still hear you ya'know." She murmured groggily. Light flooded her eyes and gradually the world reassembled itself around her, a jumble of blocky shapes and blurred colours. "You have no idea how long I've dreamt of hearing you say those words…I'll have to make a note for next time – just get Garen to stab me in the stomach…"

Katarina half laughed, half gagged, exhaling explosively, the breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding punching free like a bullet from a gun. By the time Katarina had recovered her breath, Lux's vision had become clearer and the mage smirked innocently up at her friend, her eyes twinkling like sapphires in the twilight. The red head met her gaze, incredulous and exhausted, but above all incredibly relieved. She could not help it as her lips twitched into a tentative grin.

Lux giggled, her infamous, gleeful trill that danced the fine line between whimsical, and just plain unhinged. It was the same laugh that Katarina had once found utterly insufferable, but now…now, it was the very sound of happiness, and love, and hope, and she soon found herself wanting to laugh with her.

Katarina's lip twitched, she sniffed, she felt she was about to start laughing…and then suddenly, she burst into tears. Before she knew what was happening she lolled helplessly forwards, her forehead resting against Lux's chest, and her scarlet hair tumbling all over her face as she sobbed.

It was Lux's turn to look shocked as the red heads tears soaked into the fabric of her top. She found one of Katarina's idle hands and clutched it in her own, summoning what little strength she had left and squeezing tightly.

"Hey!" Lux said. "I would do it all a thousand times over just to here you say those words!" She was trying to be comforting but Katarina only wailed louder. "Come on Kat, don't go soft on me now… I'm not dead yet!" She joked, her airy, jovial, voice wasn't entirely convincing.

Katarina choked on her tears, spluttering and sniffling. She whimpered like a wounded animal.

"Shut up! That isn't funny…" She moaned pathetically, her voice muffled in the front of Lux's tunic. "Nothing about this is funny."

"I know that." Lux gasped, shocked to hear the hostility in Katarina's voice. With her free hand she began to stroke Katarina's hair, her fingers playing gently amongst the tangled ends. "I'm sorry…Of course it's not funny. It's just…I just want to enjoy being with you, for us to be happy together now… Otherwise it's like they've won…"

There was a break in Katarina's tears, and she lifted her head slightly, turning to look at Lux, an accusatory look in her blotchy eyes.

"But they fucking have won Lux!" She groaned, her voice was hoarse. "You're dying…" She added, this time far quieter, her mouth reluctant to form the words.

"I know that too." Lux muttered, looking away.

For a moment there was silence and she watched the push and pull of the water as it slinked silently beneath the jetty. It was a deep and impenetrable indigo colour now, a near perfect mirror of the star speckled heavens above. A zigzag path of sparkling golden light stretched out to sea, cutting through the dark water like a bolt of lightning in the night sky. Lux found herself hazily tracing its progress with her eyes, patchy and dim at first but gradually growing stronger and purer the further it travelled, until it reached its blinding crescendo. The sun was still fighting on, but slowly it was being smothered by the heavy blanket of the night, a thin stripe of bloody gold was all that's remained, marking the place where sea and sky joined.

Finally she turned back to Katarina and the suns image still blazed in her eyes, a fierce and unwavering certainty.

"I know I'm dying," She paused, breathing heavily, a single tear clinging to her eyelash, she rubbed it carelessly away with the back of a hand. Her blue eyes swam but she did not blink, she looked into Katarina's eyes as though she was staring into her soul. "I feel like the luckiest person in the world." She said. Katarina made to argue, but before she could speak, Lux reached up and cupped her cheek, her thumb brushing gently against the red heads lips, and she gave a tiny shake of her head.

"I mean it Kat. Meeting you - falling for you, it's been the only thing in my life that felt real. You are everything…from the moment I first laid eyes on you, I haven't been able to think about anything else, you were all that I wanted...and I…" Lux faltered, finally tearing her eyes away, trying to hide her tears, blinking feverishly. When she glanced back up at Katarina, her indomitable poise was finally starting to crack. She looked how Katarina felt; ragged, exhausted, and desperate.

"And I thought I had lost you forever…" Lux pleaded in a whisper. She looked pained; the awful memory of those past months was still fresh in her mind; the despair, the hopelessness, impossible to forget, now haunted her shimmering eyes. "I thought that you despised me! I thought that I would never see you again, never hear your voice, never hold your hand!" She reached out with both hands and clasped Katarina's. Once more she stared imploringly into those serious jade eyes.

"So you see, nothing, not even death, could feel worse than losing you – the emptiness, the guilt…my heart died the day I betrayed you. I don't care if I die! I'm more alive now than I've ever been - and I'm free, I'm happy, all because of you – because you came back to me! The world could end right now for all I care; I got to be with you again, one last time. Its more than I could have hoped for… it's more than I deserve! I love you Katarina, and I will die loving you. That it is all I care about."

She sighed heavily, wallowing in the aftermath of her words. Saying it all aloud made it all feel far realer than it had, and she felt it all like she never had before. It was like her senses were suddenly heightened, as though she had been in some protective bubble that had numbed it all, deadened every blow, but now she felt everything. The sadness and the pain, the tragic irony, the woeful regret, it hit her hard, it almost crushed her, for a moment it was overwhelming, suffocating, heart-breaking, agony…but then it was gone. Like a huge weight lifting from her shoulders, her whole body relaxed, she breathed like she had never breathed before, like she might never breathe again.

She had bared her soul, and she could only listen, every bit the witness, as it had given its rambling speech, dancing haphazardly over their twisted relationship. She had gasped with Katarina's as it had come to each emotional realization in turn. She had been an audience to her own truth, heard her own trembling voice professing all the things that she had never to brave enough to own, and at last she had accepted them. After all this time…she was done running, done hiding, done lying. She wasn't scared anymore. All that she felt now was relief. She was free.

Lux beamed up at Katarina, her love, tears flooding freely down her ghostly pale skin.

Lux's smile was so beautiful, so pure and honest, that for a moment Katarina almost forgot everything... A single radiant smile was very nearly enough for her not to care - to care that for her, the world really was about to end…it was very nearly enough… but not quite.

She gazed at Lux's beaming face, an aching longing in her own eyes. She wanted more than anything to just let go, to pretend that this whole nightmare wasn't really happening, to forget that everything was about to end. She was desperate to just be happy, to smile with Lux, to hold Lux and never let go, but she couldn't. Even as her lips began to twist into a weak smile, she was shaking her head, reluctantly at first, but then the shaking became more violent, frustration and anger and fear boiling up inside of her. She moaned like a wounded animal, she tore her eyes miserably away from Lux and buried her head in her hands, her fingers raking through her scarlet hair.

For a while she didn't say anything. She didn't want to. She couldn't bring herself to share the awful thing that she was thinking, but she couldn't stop thinking it. The same ugly question echoed and thundered round and round her fragile brain, like a box of fireworks going off beneath her skull, and about as easy to ignore. Trying to keep it in was excruciating. It was selfish, it was wicked, why couldn't she just forget it and just be happy now, with Lux! She was terrified of hurting Lux any more than she already had…but…but, she couldn't bear it any longer…

"But what about me?" Katarina murmered pathetically.

She instantly regretted it, her head hung shamefully against her chest and for the first time she was glad of her lank hair, falling like a curtain about her face. She couldn't bear to see the disappointment that was surely there in Lux's eyes. The silence hung uncomfortably over the pair of them, festering like some disgusting smell, until Katarina felt compelled to break it, to at least try and justify herself.

"I can't live without you…" She mumbled desperately. Part of her was aghast to hear what she was saying, some deep routed vestige of her old life, her old self, screaming out in protest at the words leaving her mouth, at what she had become. She snarled, disgusted with herself, furious that even now, even here, her past was still lurking at her shoulder, as though it was merely waiting for her guard to slip so it could drag her back in. She continued with renewed conviction, her anger lending strength to her words. "You can't leave me! I don't know what to do!"

Katarina ran a sweeping hand through her hair, pushing it back. She took a deep steadying breath and looked blindly up into Lux's face, it was impossible to make out the other woman's expression through a sheet of her own tears; her body was rocking back and forth with despair.

"Please…I'm terrified…You can't die. YOU CANT DIE!" She cried out suddenly, desperately, her jarring voice echoing around the deserted dock, out over the waves. A lone sea bird went soaring into the air in fright, wings flapping furiously, spraying thousands of tiny droplets of water through the air; they sparkled like miniature diamonds as they caught the suns light. Katarina watched sadly as the bird soared away, a black speck gliding low over the water, eventually swallowed by the dusky night sky. "You can't die…I don't want to be alone again." She muttered, choking on her sobs.

Silence fell heavily over them once more. Katarina's spirit was broken, her anger, a fire fuelled by her overwhelming sense of injustice, had burned itself into the ground, leaving only despair and emptiness in its wake. She sagged backwards into the pile of sacks, her whole body was leaden, arms and legs slack and useless, she couldn't summon the willpower to move. Her head sunk back into the coarse material and it stayed there, her weeping eyes gazing blankly up at the heavens.

The stars winked back down at her, shining as bright and as clear as any night she could remember. It seemed they were mocking her in her misery, how could they shine so gaily after all that happened, how could life continue after Lux? How could the world not mourn with her? She would extinguish the stars, drape the hills in black. She would drain the seas and silence the birds…life could not continue.

Katarina screwed her eyes tight shut. Her head was pounding, her heart aching. It was as though her heart was trying to claw free from her chest, desperate to break free, no longer able to bear the pain. It was like a cold and jagged lump that had lodged in her throat. She could feel movement beside her, but she didn't want to open her eyes.

Lux was grunting softly, every small movement causing her discomfort as she struggled to untangle herself from the other woman. Katarina immediately missed the warm comfort of Lux's weight in her lap, her hands travelled instinctively up to the place the mage had been, her fingers curling in the empty air, searching for her.

For a wild moment she was scared that Lux had gone, her hysteria driving all logic from her brain, but then she felt her settling uneasily at her side. Katarina could feel Lux's shoulder pressed against her own, she could hear her breathing, soft, but slightly laboured, it was obvious she was struggling against the pain of her wound.

Neither of them spoke, Katarina was trying to summon the courage to open her eyes again. Then she felt Lux's fingers gently grazing her cheek. They were cold as ice but they burned Katarina's skin like the embers of a dying sun. She gasped as Lux pushed lightly, guiding her head around, pushing it onto its side so that her other cheek rested against the rough material her makeshift pillow. Lux's hand lingered and Katarina raised her arm, covering Lux's small hand with her own. Their thumbs intertwined and cautiously, her eyes flickered open.

Lux lay beside her, facing her, their noses were only a hairs breadth apart, so close that Katarina could feel Lux's clammy breath tickling her chin. The Demacian was in a bad way, her skin was deathly pale, her eyes were crinkled with pain, but even so, miraculously, there was still a weak smile on her bloodless lips.

Katarina was in awe…Lux looked like death, her beautiful, youthful face twisted and withered by pain and fatigue until it was barely recognizable. She looked so frail, so small, so desperately weak, but she still found the strength to smile. Like the sun peeking through the clouds on a miserable day, her angelic smile made everything seem brighter, warmer, even as the life slipped from her body, she still brought light into the world.

Katarina had never loved anything so much, never seen anything so radiant, so precious. There had never been anything, or anyone, that she was so desperate to protect. She would do anything for Lux...She would have climbed any mountain, or fought any God…she would even lay there, serene and smiling, while the only person she had ever truly loved, left the world forever. If that was what it took…

Katarina had never felt less like smiling, her face told a hundred stories, each unhappier than the last. It had been the longest day; with every passing hour time seemed to move slower and slower, until seconds felt like years and minutes like lifetimes. She had been caught in an emotional hurricane, hurled without care from one extreme to the next, until she no longer knew what she was feeling, she knew only that it wasn't anything good. She was exhausted, just thinking made her head swim…

She smiled back at Lux. It was time to just let go, they must not have long left.

"I'm sorry…" Katarina began humbly, eager to forget her outburst, but Lux cut her off.

"No, I am!" Lux said, her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper but her urgency was unmistakable. "I don't want to lose you either…" Her eyes were wide and fearful and Katarina felt a surge of guilt.

"You're not going to lose me." Katarina said firmly, she reached down and her fingers slipped effortlessly between Lux's. "I would follow you anywhere Lux."

The two women stared intently into each other's eyes, emerald green and sky blue glinting in the twilight. They might have been anywhere in the world, nothing else mattered.

"I love you." Katarina said fiercely, she was desperate not to cry, but her eyes were stinging with tears. Somehow, by sheer stubborn determination she managed to hold them back, and she sighed with relief. "Luxanna Crownguard…" She added lightly, a small smirk on her lips, there was a trace of her old scornful humour back in her voice.

Lux giggled, raising her free hand and flicking her golden hair airily, every bit the ditsy rich girl she was supposed to be. Even now, lying ragged and bloody on the floor, she was unnervingly convincing; only Lux could play the spoiled princess whilst nursing a gaping wound in her stomach.

"Ahem." She gave a small cough, her brow momentarily furrowed in concentration, as though trying to remember something.

"Why, you flatter me, Madam Du Couteau, thank you! The feeling is, of course, mutual." She said, in an almost perfect imitation of her old demeanour, prim and proper, the pained rasp in her throat, only slightly detracting from her performance.

Katarina looked slightly exasperated but could not help sniggering and Lux fell into another set of giggles. She tilted her head slightly, looking up into the redhead's face through her eyelashes.

"You know Kat…you're really not all that sinister this close up." She flashed Katarina an impish grin, her eyes glimmering enticingly. She reached out, her index finger stroking the underside of assassin's chin; slowly and deliberately, she drew the other woman in, and Katarina had no intention of resisting.

Their lips met, their eyes fluttered shut, lost in each other's embrace.

When finally they broke apart, Katarina did not let go. She kept Lux in her arms, and Lux nuzzled her head affectionately into the other woman's shoulder. They lay together, tangled in each other arms, at the end of the jetty, hidden from the world. Scarlet hair spilled into gold, they were like one being, breathing in unison to the ceaseless rhythm of the waves. Their silence was peaceful, content.

It was Lux who finally broke it.

"Kat…?" She purred.

"Mhm?" Katarina responded lazily, too blissfully comfortable to use proper words.

Finally she had managed to stifle all the dark thoughts, she was at peace, floating amongst the clouds in a kind of senseless, euphoric daze. Her eyes were half closed, her hand mechanically, but tenderly stroking Lux's long golden hair. She was happier than should have been possible, and she was scared of ruining it. If she had to speak then she had to think, and if she started thinking again…she was almost certain to fall.

"Talk to me, I want to hear your voice – I want to drown in your voice! To feel it. To breathe it." Lux said fervidly. It was hard to ignore that, and the heavy, fuzzy fog that had engulfed Katarina's mind, gradually began to clear, in her surprise, all her worries were cast aside.

"Oh…urm…Ok." Katarina said, a little flustered. "Right…urm…what do I talk about?"

Lux laughed aloud, a laugh that quickly devolved into an ugly, wheezing, cough. Katarina looked down at the mage, worried. If her trance hadn't already been broken, it certainly was now, this was dangerous territory, and she could already feel her mind creeping off in dark directions.

"Lux?" She asked anxiously.

"I'm fine." Lux spluttered, shaking off the last of her coughing fit. She began laughing again. "…Well, in the grand scheme of things anyway."

"What's funny?" Katarina asked seriously.

"Oh," Lux began, suddenly pensive, "It's just…well sometimes I forget that you've never had a real friend before."

"-Hey!" Katarina gasped, unsure whether or not she should feel offended.

"Oh, you know what I mean." Lux dismissed, waving away Katarina's half-hearted look of indignation. Katarina considered for a moment, she was still in half a mind to retort, but the longer she thought about it, she more she realised how true Lux's words were.

"Yeah, I suppose." Katarina said, sighing sadly. Years and years of loneliness still weighed heavily upon her soul. Lux's saw the dejection in the assassin's eyes and her heart melted.

"Aww, it's not a bad thing! You just have high standards when it comes to choosing your friends." She reasoned kindly. "And, if I say so myself, I think you've got exquisite taste." Lux shuffled over, and, with difficulty she twisted round to face the redhead. She beamed up at into her face and Katarina could not help but smile weakly back.

Lux's contemplated her affectionately for a moment, but then something changed in her expression. Her blue eyes twinkled mischievously; quite suddenly she reached over and placed her hand on Katarina's bare midriff. The Assassin suddenly tensed, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention, she stared at the invading hand with equal part suspicion and excitement.

Lux smirked, and with the nail of her smallest finger, she began to painstakingly trace the snake like tattoo that slithered up the Assassin's hip. Katarina began to squirm as the finger rose higher and higher. Lux watched her eagerly. The mages bottom lip was teased between her teeth and her blue eyes were transfixed hungrily on Katarina, delighting in every detail; each tiny spasm of pleasure, the look of panicked excitement in her eyes, the bead of sweat clinging to her brow.

Katarina was giggling breathlessly, writhing around on the spot. Lux's hand had passed her rib cage and reached the hem of her corset, but her wandering finger did not stop there. It wormed its way beneath the leather, and began to tease it, ever so slightly upwards.

"No!" Katarina yelped. She grabbed Lux's arm and easily yanked it away from her body, adamantly ignoring her own grumblings of disappointment. "That is enough of that!" She said, her voice higher than it should have been. Still holding Lux's wrist she rolled over onto her knees, straddling the golden haired mage and pinning her arms to her sides.

Both women were giggling as Katarina loomed over Lux, breathing very heavily, her chest heaving and her red hair draping haphazardly over both their faces. A huge grin was plastered on Lux's face and she stared up at Katarina with wide, innocent, eyes.

"You make a shit patient, you know that right?" Katarina said eventually, her breathing still far from regular.

Lux giggled, wriggling futilely against Katarina's iron grip.

"But you make a fantastic nurse…" She teased, gesturing at the Katarina's jacket which was still tied clumsily around her wound.

"Oh shit. Right." Katarina said in alarm, and she rolled off of Lux, falling in a heap at her side. She lay on her back, her knees pulled up towards the sky.

"Awww, I didn't mean that I wanted you to move." Lux grumbled from beside her.

"Of course I had to move!" Katarina said firmly. "I don't know what I was thinking! If were not more careful you might…" She stopped, her throat suddenly very dry.

"Might what?" Lux said quietly. Her beautiful smile was now distinctly absent from her face, and her voice was no longer playful, it was solemn, almost bitter.

A heavy silence fell over them, like a cold dark shadow. Katarina watched Lux anxiously. She knew she had said the wrong thing. The mage wasn't even looking at her, she was gazing desolately out to sea, her hair fluttering lightly in the breeze. Her golden hair shone pearly white in the light of the moon, the perfect full moon, which had slinked out into the sky as they talked.

Katarina shivered involuntarily, despite the warmth of the night air. Katarina was petrified, more scared than she had ever been in her life, and yet she knew that her fear must pale in comparison to whatever Lux must be feeling.

Insanely she found herself thinking about all the people she had killed – she could still remember every face – wondering what they had felt. Had they even had time to feel anything? Anything other than fear…? How many people had she seen die, how many people had she helped die? She had witnessed so much death…it had always seemed so easy…

Katarina shook herself, she felt sick, like there was a bottomless pit in her stomach. Nothing about this was easy.

Tentatively she reached out, her little finger hooking around Lux's. She half expected the other woman to pull away but she did not. In fact, she didn't react at all, she showed no sign of recognition that the assassin was even there.

"Lux…" Katarina said softly. "I'm so sorry!"

Lux turned to face her. She looked so different, the last of her mask, finally melted away, leaving just Lux, open and defenceless. It was as though she was staring into the other woman's soul, it was so pure, so raw; Katarina had never loved her more.

Lux made to speak, but stopped abruptly, her lips slightly parted. She looked down, as though in shame.

"I don't want to die." She breathed suddenly, glancing nervously upwards, as if trying to gauge the redhead's reaction.

Katarina was awestruck, overcome with emotion, staring at Lux as though seeing her for the very first time. There were tears in her green eyes, and tears rolling down her cheeks, but Katarina was completely oblivious to them. All she knew was Lux, Lux and a desperate need to help her. Her mouth hung open uselessly. Several times she tried to speak but she couldn't. There were no words. Nothing she could say that would fix this.

In the end she did the only thing she could, the only thing that felt right. She lunged over and flung her arms around Lux, hugging her as tightly as she dared.

Lux released a great shuddering breath, caught off guard and momentarily too stunned to move. Then she yielded to Katarina's embrace. Her sky blue eyes filled with tears, so she closed them, her arms wrapped around Katarina's back.

Pain flared in her wound, but the pain was nothing; she felt so wonderfully safe, engulfed beneath Katarina's lithe body, locked in the grip of her powerful arms, with her warm breath tickling her ear, and her mellow scent in her nostrils. She didn't want it to end.

"Thankyou Kat." She said, her teary voice muffled against the other woman's shoulder.

"What for?" Replied a baffled Katarina, drawing back just enough that she could see the mage's face.

Lux opened her eyes and met Katarina's gaze. She was squinting; the clear, starry night was as bright as the midday sun, compared to the infinite darkness that threatened to swallow her every time she shut her eyes. Each time the world took that little bit longer to flicker back to life, and she was all too aware that each time might be the last. Soon would come a time where the darkness would not relent. She was close to the end.

Lux fought to keep her eyes open, even as her body grew ever wearier, her limbs heavy and her movement sluggish. She was hesitant to even blink, each time she did, barely allowing her eyelids to close for fear that they might never open again. She drank in Katarina's appearance, with the zeal of someone who had staggered for days around the hottest and driest Shuriman desert. Desperately, she tried to memorize every last detail of her lovers face, from the exact, vibrant green of her eyes, to the sharp fall of her brow and the grizzled ruddy channel of her scar. She didn't want to forget any of it.

"For everything." Lux said breathlessly. She didn't have the strength to hold herself up anymore and she slumped backwards, her head sinking deep into the sacks but she never took her eyes off Katarina. Her gaze was unwavering.

The Assassin flushed, her cheeks turning a shade of red that almost threatened to outshine her hair, though she felt no embarrassment. She didn't notice the little, rueful smile on Lux's face. She didn't care.

"Your welcome." She said, very seriously, squirming round into a sitting position, propped up on her elbow. "A thousand times, you're welcome! - But it should be me saying thank you…" She looked around wildly, frustration and passion bubbling to the surface. She cast her eyes over the horizon, as though scouring the sky and the sea in search of the right words. Her gaze fell upon the moon and settled there, the great white orb shimmering in her own eyes as she lost herself amongst her memories. Those blissful nights they had spent together, hand in hand at the institute, bathed in beautiful, soothing moonlight.

"The truth is you saved me Lux." She said at last, in a distant, dreamy, voice. "You saved me from myself. I could have lived my whole life, my whole miserable life, and never known this – happiness, friendship, and love…" She shivered lightly. "I would never have found any of it without you. I might never have even known I wanted it. I can't even begin to – Lux? LUX!" Katarina's thoughts trailed off and her voice became a squeal of panic.

Lux wasn't moving. The golden haired girl lay completely still, one arm lay limp at her side, the fingers of her hand curling towards her palm, and the other arm was slung across her chest. Her skin was as pale as the moon above and her eyes were closed.

"Lux." Katarina said again, her voice a whisper. She swallowed, trying to repress the now familiar lump that rose in her throat. She didn't trust herself to speak, terrified of the cracks, and the splinters that she could feel creeping through her voice, threatening to shatter it into a thousand tiny pieces. She might never speak again.

Instead she leant close over Lux's motionless body, with a trembling hand she combed the wild strands of white gold hair from her love's face; her beautiful, dreadful face. She was ashen and gaunt. The life and the light that she once emanated so unsparingly - that would radiate from her like palpable warmth - was now absent, marked only by the awful coldness of the vacancy left in its wake. The usual glow of magic, which twinkled across her skin, as star fire twinkled across virgin snow, had all but faded.

It was like Lux herself was fading from the world, fading from existence. Already she was only a shadow of her former self. It was like Katarina was looking at portrait of Lux, grey and faded by time, or perhaps at some mournful, drab statue of her. The kind of sterile tribute that Katarina imagined might stand, condemned to neglect, in some dusty corner of Lux's Demacian home. Katarina did not want to believe that it was the girl herself, the same Lux that only hours earlier had twirled with blissful grace in Katarina's arms, dancing and laughing; full of life, and hope, and love.

It broke her heart. Katarina hung limply over Lux, silently and irrepressibly shaking. She was powerless as great convulsions of despair, surged through her body like electricity, rocking her back and forth like a ragdoll. A single, fat tear fell with a splash against Lux's cheek and Katarina whimpered as she brushed it clumsily away with her thumb, even as a dozen more swelled ready to take its place in her own, blotchy and exhausted eyes.

"Hmmmm."

Katarina froze, dumbly blinking the tears from her eyes. She listened intently, too downtrodden by fate, to easily accept what she thought she had heard. Scepticism was the only way she could continue to function, a hopeful heart could only bring her more pain.

"Mnnnnmmmmm, Kat." Lux moaned. Her voice was quiet but quite clear, certainly not a figment of her imagination.

Katarina almost laughed, she almost cried, an enormous confused sigh escaping her twisted lips.

"Lux!" She gasped, running a hand through her scarlet hair; the other hand found Lux's and took it gently. "Oh Lux I…" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"No. Not quite." Lux said softly, her eyes were still closed, but she had heard the quiver in Katarina's voice and guessed what she was thinking.

"Oh Gods, Lux." The Assassin said, her voice raw with emotion. "What can I do? What do you want me to do?"

"You've done – she coughed lightly – You've already done so much!" Lux finished with a struggle, her face contorted in discomfort, her eyes still tight shut. Just the act of talking was almost too much for her beaten body. She coughed again. "Talk. Just talk to me." She said and fell silent, her silence was absolute…final.

Katarina clapped a hand to her mouth, suppressing a wail. Her eyes were wide and shimmering, her bottom lip wobbling dangerously. She was consumed by horror, ravaged by grief, filled with an inexplicable but unshakable certainty that she would never hear Lux speak again. The mage had spoken her last.

The silence was crushing, weighing down on her like the sky itself, the unending mass of the heavens falling all around her, all over her, burying her, suffocating her. She wanted to shout and scream. She wanted to shake Lux, to beg her to talk, anything to hear that voice for just a little longer.

But she didn't. She mustn't. This was not about her.

Katarina sighed, taking a deep breath, filling her lungs with the crisp night air. She flung her head back, shaking her hair from her face. Briefly the deep indigo sky filled her swimming vision, a vast labyrinth of stars, before she screwed up her eyes, defying herself to cry any more.

"O-Okay" She said, her voice as steady as she could make it. She swivelled round and lay back beside Lux, squirming to find a comfortable position in the primitive nest of sacks that she had made for them. She lightly brushed her lips against the other woman's cheek, before putting her arms around Lux's slender shoulders and gently pulling her close.

Lux didn't speak, she didn't open her eyes, but she snuggled longingly into Katarina's embrace, her cheek pressed to the Assassin's chest and her arm wrapped around her waist. Lux was icy cold to the touch, Katarina shivered but did not recoil. She gave one final sigh, gazing with wistful adoration at the golden haired girl, before she turned, and gazed out over the water instead.

The horizon was no longer distinguishable, the sun completely gone, leaving sea and sky to blur into one eternal, impenetrable darkness. Only the water close to the jetty was visible, glinting white in the light of the moon as the whispering waves licked at the tired wooden supports.

Katarina opened her mouth to speak, and was only slightly surprised when the words came tumbling easily from her mouth. In the end, she knew exactly what to say.

"I had this dream – well, I kept having it actually. Ever since that first night we trained together, and then all that time we were apart, even when I thought I might never see you again…especially when I thought I might never see you again…

I would dream about another life, a life where I wasn't a Noxian and you weren't Demacian, we were just Lux and Katarina. We were together. We didn't have to hide from anyone, or apologize for who we were. We were happy."

Katarina smiled vaguely, her brilliant jade eyes were misty, far away.

"I hated myself for dreaming about you. But not as much as I hated waking up. It drove me crazy, I never wanted it to end – it always did though. Dreaming about you was the only thing that kept me going…

I always imagined we might visit Ionia. It's really quite spectacular, the mountains, the waterfalls – I could always picture your smile…


	6. Wish

**ACT V: Wish**

It was later that night, or perhaps, barely, the next morning. The exact hour was impossible to guess, the previous day was long forgotten but the following dawn not yet near enough to penetrate the deep velvety darkness of the night.

The moon shone bright as ever, keeping its silent vigil over the sleepy Piltovian countryside as it continued its steady but imperceptible journey across the inky sky.

In the distance, just creeping over the crest of the hills came an eerie and unnatural glow, like some alien sunrise. The city of Piltover never slept and the effect of its countless lights could be seen for miles in any direction, their iridescent glow seeping into the night like spilled ink.

And then there were the stars. They seemingly covered every inch of sky, appearing even in the darkest and blackest of corners if you looked there for long enough. They were pure and white, mocking the feeble human imitations far below, with their brilliance and their multitude.

Below it all, at the crest of a small wooden jetty and entwined in each other's arms, lay a Demacian, and a Noxian. The two women were as still as the world around them, only the gentle flutter of the wind in their hair persisted, like an echo of the waves that swept quietly all around them.

Lux had long since slipped from consciousness, succumbing to the weight of her exhaustion and her pain she had fallen gratefully into a deep but fitful sleep. Her eyes were closed, her body was limp and heavy in Katarina's arms, but she was still alive.

She was still breathing.

Katarina knew because she was listening. It was the only thing that kept her own exhaustion at bay. She listened keenly for each shallow breath, those tiny, almost inaudible whispers that told her Lux was still hanging on. The sound of each breath, although so quiet and ordinary, rang in Katarina's ears as though a chorus of angels stood at her side. They sang to her, a melancholy but majestic hymn that somehow made it feel like everything was ok, it soothed her soul and warmed her heart.

Only two people had ever sung to her – not counting the rowdy chant of drunken soldiers, or the sleazy, warbling serenade of one particularly imperious nobleman, who fancied himself for a romantic –No, there were only two people that had ever, **really,** sung to her.

One was long dead, amongst the faintest of memories buried at the back of Katarina's head, so faint in fact that sometimes she wondered whether the whole thing had been any more than a wonderful dream.

The other…Katarina looked down at Lux's pale, beautiful face. She looked peaceful; as though she might merely have been sleeping. Gently Katarina brushed a loose strand of golden hair from the other woman's cheek, just as a single tear rolled down her own.

The other would soon be only a memory too…

Katarina looked away resolutely, gazing out into the darkness, keen to think of something else.

She was tired too. So very tired. Despite her bitter determination to remain with Lux for as long as she could, sleep continued to creep up on her. It called to her, warm and inviting, praying on her every tiny lapse in concentration, waiting for any opportunity to drag her down into serene nothingness.

Even now she could feel her eyelids drooping. They were like lead; it was a constant fight just to keep them open, and it was a fight she was slowly losing. The stars would, quite suddenly, start to go out, the highest echelons first, and then more and more, lower and lower, until there was barely any light…And then she would catch herself, shake herself angrily, cold dread rising in her chest as she waited for Lux's next breath. She would swear to herself that it wouldn't happen again, only to repeat the process minutes later. She couldn't last much longer…

Careful to disturb Lux as little as possible, Katarina wriggled out from beneath her, lying the mage softly back against sacks. For a moment she waited, and watched, but Lux did not stir. Katarina crept over and knelt at the water's edge, her body was stiff from being still for so long.

She leant forwards, letting her hands trail amongst the waves, savouring the feeling as the cold water played between her fingers. Gradually, she began to feel better, more awake, and she leant a little further, letting the water wash over her arms. She splashed some against her face…

That was when she saw it – or at least, she thought she saw it - although what, 'it', was she couldn't be sure. It was a flash of blue light in the sky, brighter than any star, brighter even than the moon itself. For a second she sat frozen, the icy waves still licking at her elbows as she gazed upwards.

There was nothing there. The sky was perfectly still.

She must have imagined it, perhaps it had merely been the water catching in the moonlight, perhaps it had been her own exhausted mind playing tricks on her.

She let her weary head fall into her hands; she rubbed her eyes and wiped her brow. Cool salt water trickled down skin. Whatever it was she had seen, it-

There it was again! And this time there was no mistaking it. It was no illusion. Katarina stared awestruck, towards the heavens, where one of the stars had inexplicably began to sparkle a shade of perfect royal blue.

She blinked stupidly, expecting it to return to normal, but nothing changed. The blue star winked playfully down at her, it seemed to be growing in size before her eyes, spinning, expanding, and drawing ever closer. Watching it was beginning to make her head spin.

She shut her eyes tight, forcing herself to breathe, deep steady breaths; she counted them; one…two…three…four…five…six – her curiosity got the better of her and her eyes flew open. She looked up into the night sky and gasped, her jade eyes widening in surprise and wonder, her jaw agape.

The blue star was still there, still getting steadily closer, only now it was no longer alone. Several other stars had appeared, all the same deep shade of blue as the first. Even as Katarina watched more were appearing in every direction, spiralling hypnotically out of the nothingness and joining the glittering horde.

Katarina could only stare. A nagging sense of recognition stirred at the back of her mind, she knew what this was, she had seen it before, but right now she was unable to think. She was overwhelmed. It was breath-taking… beautiful… it was like standing with her face tilted skywards in the middle of a rain storm, except time had slowed to a crawl and she could make out every shining drop. They seemed to be converging on her, drawn directly towards her as though by some immense gravitational pull…She probably ought to have felt afraid but she was totally and utterly enraptured…

Before the long the blue stars filled her vision and to Katarina's amazement, they just kept getting closer. They drifted lazily down all around her, and up close they were more akin to tiny snowflakes than to rain, like specs of dusk caught in the beam of a powerful light – that's what it was like, like some ethereal spotlight trained on her from the heavens.

It was blindingly bright, Katarina had to squint, her eyes watering fiercely, as the blue mist descended over her. She clambered shakily to her feet, and was immediately consumed in brilliant blue light, its warmth washed over her, a physical force that was so powerful that it almost forced her back to the ground.

Katarina felt giddy, lightheaded, a strange drunken smile suddenly played on her red lips and she had to repress the urge to burst out laughing. Twinkling azure stars, like a thousand fireflies, filled the strange mist, dancing through the air – transforming the air with the mesmeric pattern of their movement.

Katarina was spellbound. She could barely remember where she was, or who she was – she felt delightfully untroubled. In fact, had she not been so delightfully untroubled, she would have almost certainly found it unsettling, just how untroubled she was…given her dire circumstances…however she was held in the embrace of the unknown blue light, and its strange magic that lifted her heart and eased her mind. She felt inexplicably happy, far too happy to be suspicious of anything.

Tentatively, she reached out a hand towards the fireflies, unknowingly holding her breath in anticipation as her fingers neared the buzzing blue light. She was desperately curious to know what they felt like but even as her hand closed around them, they disappeared in a fizzle of bright blue sparks. A strange energy tingled through her fingers and shivered up her arm. Katarina let out a sigh, mingled pleasure and disappointment.

Gradually the sensation faded, and her arm returned to normal – however, normal felt distinctly different than before. In her numb, almost drunken state, it took her a few seconds to realise quite what the difference was, and when she did, it was with a yelp of surprise.

Her arm felt strong again! - She rolled her shoulder. She made a fist. She flexed her fingers - She was sure of it! Her arm felt good as new, from the aching pain, right down to the palm blistered by the hilts of countless daggers, her arm was completely healed. Even her skin seemed, smoother, softer than she could ever remember it being. It was remarkable…

Katarina raised her other arm curiously, before instantly relaxing it again, the act of raising it alone was enough to confirm her suspicions. She winced as pain seared up her left side. This arm had definitely, **not,** been healed. She could still feel every bruise, every scratch even as it hung dormant by her side, all the days punishment was just as fresh as ever – but why?

She held her two hands side by side, contemplating them vacantly. What did it mean? And why did all this feel so familiar? She was so consumed by thought that at first she didn't notice the stars all around her…

They were suddenly acting very strangely. – Well, even stranger than, mysterious, star, firefly thingies usual act. They had stopped their serene, hypnotic waltz and were surging around chaotically, suddenly agitated by something...or someone.

Katarina could not help but notice as they streamed all around her, shoving urgently past her, like a swarm of angry wasps. She stood, frozen in shock as they passed, in their haste to get to whatever it was they were so drawn to, many of them brushed against her, disappearing in a hundred tiny blue explosions. Electric shocks peppered Katarina's skin, as though she was being tickled by invisible hands, her body twisted and contorted in spasm. She barely kept herself from toppling over the edge of the jetty and into the water.

She managed to sink down to her knees, out of the way of the stream of stars, and she whirled around, her breathing heavy and her heart racing. It seemed ludicrous that only minutes earlier she had been struggling to stay awake. Now sleep could not have been further from her mind.

Then she saw the source of the stars frenzy. She gasped. It was Lux. Of course it was Lux. Suddenly everything made sense. She realised where she had seen the magical blue stars before. She realised what was happening.

Oh Gods, how she wished to be right.

She raised both her hands, strong and weak, and ran them wildly through her blazing crimson hair. She was trembling uncontrollably so she wrapped her arms tightly around her bare shoulders; they were rippled with Goosebumps that had little to do with the temperature.

She could not tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her. It was hauntingly beautiful. Lux was bathed in blue light, her ghostly pale skin, alive and shimmering as an endless stream of stars washed over her limp body. Her hair was thrashing restless across her face as though caught in a fierce wind.

Katarina bit her bottom lip nervously. She was crying again, warm tears rolling down her cheeks. But she didn't know why. She didn't know whether her tears were that of sorrow or of joy, she didn't know whether she was happy or sad, she didn't know what was happening.

All she could do was hope. All she could do was wish.


	7. Epilogue: Part I

(A/N: Hey guys. Firstly thanks everyone for reading the story so far, and everyone who left reviews, it is so rewarding to know people enjoyed something I've worked really hard on, and it helps motivate me to carry on, so I appreciate it a lot.

I had planned on leaving this story as it was, but seeing as so many of you asked me to do more (and asked me so nicely as well!) I decided that I would write one final chapter for you all. As always I got a little carried away and one chapter quickly became three because it was getting pretty long – hopefully not too long.

That said this is definitely the final part of this story. I have really enjoyed writing it, and giving Lux and Katarina the happy (happy-ish) ending that they deserved, but now I think have taken it as far as I can.

Okay enough rambling, basically it's a one shot of Lux and Katarina's life on the run, its set quite a bit after the events of the main story, and it all takes place over the course of a single day.

It's a little different to the my other stuff so I hope you enjoy. Thanks again :) see you on the other side.)

 **Epilogue:** **Dust Blood and Rain**

 **Part I: Dust**

Several months later…

The heat was relentless, it smothered the dusty town like a blanket, squashing all of the air out of the place and making it hard work to simply keep breathing. There wasn't a cloud in sight and yet the sky was a dull, featureless orange that stretched on endlessly, uninterrupted but for the great blazing orb of fire at its centre.

Here the sun seemed to hang perpetually above them all, as though it had some undue fixation on this particularly desolate corner of the Shuriman desert. This was obviously an illusion, but two weeks in the sweltering heat was enough to drive anyone a little mad, and Katarina Du Couteau had been there for nearly three.

She sat alone in her room, her crimson hair plastered to her face and neck. She was perched on the end of a simple wooden bed, her long legs crossed and her bare feet drumming a restless and rhythmless beat on the rough floorboards. She had begun to dress but quickly given up, the buttons of her white blouse proving far too much for her distracted, sweaty fingers, the shirt still hung open over the underwear she had slept in, clinging uncomfortably to her clammy skin.

The room she was in was more like a prison cell, a kind of claustrophobic brown hell. Everything was brown; brown walls, brown floor, brown ceiling, brown sheets on the bed…even the sunlight, filtering in from the single tiny window set high into one of the walls, somehow seemed to turn brown before Katarina's eyes. This place was going to be the death of her…

Katarina was a long way from home, about as far as she had ever been in fact, although she didn't really know where home was anymore. That was just her life now, she supposed, a lost soul, wandering from one god forsaken town to the next, forever running from her past.

Over the last year she had seen parts of Runterra she hadn't even known existed, many of which she would be happy to never see again, but this particular city was about as god forsaken as they came. It had started as little more than a watering hole, sat right in the middle of a sprawling desert, but then people had settled around it, and continued to settle around it, until without warning one day it was just kind of, there. A seething and tumultuous metropolis, seemingly risen from the sand itself. It was a great, colourful patchwork sewn from thousands of lives and held together by the most basic of human needs; the need for water in the driest place in all of Valoran.

Katarina did not find any charm in such a place. She didn't even know its name… All she knew was that there was sand and dust everywhere, the buildings were covered in it, the air was thick with it – and it was all over the soles of her feet…

"Fucking sand…" She grumbled under her breath, swatting madly at her foot as though trying to kill some invisible insect. Her efforts were futile. The harder she tried the more the stuff seemed to spread and after several frantic seconds she gave up, collapsing backwards onto the bed with a groan. The old rickety bed groaned right back at her. For a while she just lay there, staring despondently up at the ceiling.

She could hear the muffled roar of the world beyond her dingy cell, the buzz of life wafting up to her from the street below. There was a thriving market place almost directly below her window, where people with raised voices haggled for pittance over the price of fruit, children laughed and played and cried, and various indeterminate animals mewled and grunted in the midday heat – there was even, slightly bizarrely, the sound of a flute, its gentle song all but lost in the chaos – The inescapable sounds of life marching on… normal life. It was taunting her.

She was so sick of this place. Not just this room, or this city, but everything. She was not meant to live like this, in a frenzied paranoia where cold beady eyes watched her from every shadow, and every creaking floorboard could spell a sudden violent death sneaking up on her. It was unbearable. Even in sleep she could not escape it. Jericho Swain mocked her every night from her dreams, his cold, pitiless laugh left ringing in her ears for ours after she woke.

Her exhaustion was matched only by her defiance. Katarina Du Couteau did not hide! Katarina Du Couteau did not run! In her opinion, sneaking around or covertness of any kind was only to be tolerated if it culminated in her stabbing someone firmly between the shoulder blades. She was no coward. Every waking moment she spoiled for a fight, desperate to carve her frustration across a man's face and paint her fury on the walls in his blood.

There was a part of her, a big part of her, who wanted them to find her… Another even bigger part of her wanted to march back to Noxus and butcher every last one of them herself…She could picture her triumph, it was one of the few pleasures she had left, their lifeless and bloodied corpses draped like banners over the walls of the Immortal Bastion, Jericho Swain's ugly head skewered atop the highest flagpole she could find. It was a beautiful image, enough almost, to bring a tear to her eye…

But it was just that, merely an image, a dream. For the moment at least, it wasn't possible. There was no one for her to fight except her own imagination, and (although she had seriously considered it) stabbing her imagination just wasn't practical.

The inaction was eating away at her soul. She felt trapped, like a caged animal, skulking in this tiny airless room in the middle of this shithole of a city! In the middle of this fucking wasteland! How had her life come to this?

Katarina sighed heavily, her pent up frustration and anger turning quickly into a deep sadness. She allowed her eyelids to flicker closed.

The truth was she knew the uncomfortable answer to that question. She knew exactly how her life had become this way, but she wasn't going to think about it. It was far too hard, far too painful…

Somehow, she must have fallen asleep because when she next opened her eyes, the room was much darker. The last of the evening sun was streaking in low through the window, dust danced in its path, and it cut golden stripes across Katarina's bare stomach, but everything else was thrown into deep shadow by comparison.

The red head grumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her hands and trying to roll out the crick in her neck. She briefly considered the rather attractive possibility of just rolling over and going back to sleep… but then she heard it. A noise in the hallway, not much, only the tiniest hint of a footstep, but enough to set her on high alert.

She was instantly wide awake, all thought of sleep forgotten. She shot up, and darted across the room to the door, moving with incredible speed and agility for someone who had been lying for so long in such an uncomfortable position. A gleaming dagger had materialised in her hand, seemingly from nowhere, and a second in her other hand for good measure. She crouched behind the door, poised and ready, balanced on the balls of her feet, hands clutched firmly but easily around the hilts of her knives. She was barely breathing. For the first time all day the faintest hint of a smile had appeared on her full lips.

This was much more like it.

Slowly the door swung open, and a hooded figure stepped into the room. In the blink of an eye Katarina was upon them, one blade against their throat, the other angled against the small of their back. There was moment's silence, neither of them moved. And then…

"Really? Must we do this every single time Kat?" Lux said, quite calmly, although there was a note of indignation in her sing song voice.

Katarina stepped back, releasing her friend. She laughed, but it was a hollow, empty laugh. For once in her life she was almost sorry to hear Lux's dulcet tones…that time she had been so sure it been a Noxian assassin, she could not help but feel slightly disappointed.

"Hey - what about yesterday? I didn't threaten you once yesterday!" Katarina replied sheepishly, running a now dagger-less hand through her flaming hair.

"Yeah but that's only because you were asleep!" Lux sighed. She lowered the hood of her cloak, tossing back her own golden mane and sending ripples of light down its lengths. She turned round to face Katarina for the first time.

"If this is how you greet your, _lover_ (she smirked at her choice of word and Katarina snorted), then I shudder to think how you must greet your…your…your -

She stopped talking abruptly as her eyes fell on the red head, her mouth left hanging open stupidly. There were few things in the world had could stop Luxanna Crownguard from talking, very few things indeed, but a scantily clad Katarina Du Couteau was certainly one of them. Lux was staring unashamedly at the other woman, her sparkling blue eyes lingering far longer than they ought to on her shapely form. It was several long and awkward seconds before she managed to compose herself enough to speak.

"Just who were you expecting anyway?" Lux asked without taking her eyes off of the assassin. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" The corners of her mouth twitched upwards.

Katarina blushed deeply, squirming under Lux's gaze and drawing her shirt across her chest to cover herself up a little.

"Don't be stupid," She snapped, her voice louder than she had intended. "It's just so hot…" She said trailing off.

"Tell me about it." Lux replied quickly, not allowing the tension between them to grow any further. She finally tore her eyes away from Katarina, and set about unpacking the contents of her bad onto the bed. "Apparently there's going to be a massive storm, that's what all the locals are saying anyway." Lux said, as she pulled out a large loaf of bread.

Katarina looked up sharply.

"You've been speaking to the locals again? I thought we agreed that-

"Yes I know! And I'm sorry, I just can't help it. There is nothing to worry about though. I don't suppose any of them payed me very much attention."

"Ha." Katarina grunted distantly, "Somehow I doubt that…" In her head she was remembering the man who owned the inn they were staying in, an old man with dark, sunken eyes, leathery olive skin and a huge greying moustache. In particular she was remembering the way he had leered at Lux when they arrived, the ugly greed in his eyes, and the way his slimy tongue had slid over his bottom lip. It made Katarina scowl just thinking about it.

The truth was that as a pair they could hardly have been any more conspicuous. In a place where everyone had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin, two very fair women, sharing a bedroom no less, was sure to raise some eyebrows – and some dark eyebrows at that. All of their collective training and experience meant nothing when their physical appearances were so distinctive.

Lux was apparently oblivious to Katarina's concerns. She was too busy trying to untangle herself from the long traveling cloak she had been wearing. Katarina strode over to help, lifting the heavy material easily from Lux's slender shoulders before flinging it to one side. Lux twirled round to face her; she was wearing a pale blue dress with long lace sleeves. She looked beautiful.

The light mage smiled up at her, but Katarina did not smile back. She looked incredibly serious, her jade eyes were full of worry.

"You need to be more careful Lux - I mean it!" She added, noticing the incredulous expression on Lux's face. There was a moment's silence, as Katarina tried desperately to find a way of not saying what was on her mind. She failed. "I couldn't bear to lose you again…" She said eventually, and her gaze fell to the floor, her chin drooping down against her chest.

Lux slowly reached up and cupped Katarina's jaw before gently tilting her head back upwards. They looked deep into each other's eyes. The very last rays of sunlight were catching in Lux's hair, causing it to sparkle and shimmer in an almost other worldly manner.

"I'm not going anywhere." The mage said softly, before standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on the other woman's cheek.

Katarina's fingers rose instinctively to that spot on her cheek. That one kiss was almost enough to settle the matter there and then.

Lux's lips brushing her skin was a different kind of weapon, more dangerous than any other she had known. It struck as hard as any sword or axe and the marks it left upon her were no less permanent. She could remember every single time Lux had kissed her, she could still feel each one like a fantastic scar upon her soul. Those gentle lips made her more awake to the frailty of her form than any slash of cold steel ever had, or ever likely could. It was its own form of magic, a magic that the Sinister Blade - the revered and fearless warrior, the lonely Noxian girl - had never known before.

It could make her feel alive like nothing else could; scared and safe, vulnerable and powerful. There were some days where Katarina resented, even hated, the immense power that the Demacian girl held over her. There were others where it was all she lived for.

On this particular day, it was almost enough to make her forget the months of fear and frustration that had been bubbling away dangerously inside her, just below the surface, ready to erupt and explode into the world in a fury of desperate destructive energy. A single kiss from Lux was almost enough to let her forget it all, almost, but not quite…

"No, NO, **NO!"** Katarina cried, shaking herself, as though from a daze, trying to lift the warm, sultry, fuzziness that was invading her mind like a fog, preventing her from thinking clearly. She fought against the overwhelming urge to kiss Lux again, to take her in her arms and lose herself in the golden haired girl's tender warmth –

" **NO!** " She shouted again, more firmly this time. She was breathing very heavily as though she had just run a great distance. "No Lux. You can't just keep avoiding this!"

"Kat, what are you –

"How can you live like this?" Katarina cut in, a crack in her voice, deep and hollow as the Howling Abys itself. Lux's face fell, dismay etched across her youthful features. She looked as though she was trying hard not to cry, her jaw clenched and teeth gritted, her bright blue eyes swam with what looked like fear.

Katarina could no longer bear to look her in the face. Every fibre of her being screamed at her to stop, to leave it, to not do or say anything that could put such an expression on the other girls face. But deep down she knew she couldn't just leave it, not anymore, it would kill her.

"How can you live like this?" She repeated. When Lux did not respond she carried on. "Because I don't think I can much longer Lux. It's killing me…Every time you walk out that door I'm terrified that I will never see you again. Every second of every day you are in danger because of me… because of who I was – who I still am! Because I was so weak willed, so naïve as to think that we might actually be able to be together…"

Katarina talked and talked. With every word she found it easier and easier to speak, to breathe even. As though she was descending a mountain and the air was becoming richer and purer with each step. Soon she found that she couldn't stop herself. The words were pouring from her lips of their own volition, faster and faster, and her voice was growing stronger.

It felt good, she could feel her heart growing lighter as she spoke. All the dark, bitter thoughts that had infested her brain, that she had struggled for so long to repress, finally surging free.

The few times she dared to steal a glance upwards she found that Lux had barely moved at all. She was like a statue, cold and unblinking; it sent a shiver down Katarina's spine just looking at her. It was impossible to tell what the other girl was thinking, her beautiful face, almost entirely in shadow now, was still set in the same stony expression.

She spoke for what felt like an age, by the time she finished it the tiny room was in almost complete darkness, the small rectangle of light in the far wall enough for them to see each other but little else.

"You're the only, good, I've known in my whole wretched life…You are the good in me Lux…I don't want to - No! - **I** _ **can't**_ hide that from the world anymore. I can't live without you Luxanna, you must know that…but why shouldn't we get to _**live**_ **…** real lives! Together!"

She stopped finally, taking a deep breath, her throat raw. A heavy silence filled the air between them, and Katarina's hands tugged nervously at the hem of her blouse while she waited for Lux to say something… anything.

Still she waited, longer and longer, until the aching silence was almost too much to bear, and then…

"Let's go for a walk!" Lux said brightly.

For a moment Katarina was so relieved that Lux had finally said something that she didn't immediately register exactly what that something was. It was only as Lux sidled past her and over to the doorway that it finally hit her.

"Wait what? Lux…where you even listening to me?" Katarina snapped, her frustration rapidly returning.

"Of course I was." Lux said calmly, "Are you coming or not?"

"But- Katarina began before the other girl interrupted her.

"Please?" Lux pined, and although Katarina couldn't see her face, she could feel those big, blue, puppy dog eyes boring into her across the room; she could never resist those eyes…

"Ugh fine!" She said sulkily, and stomped across the room. Without another word she flung open the door and set off down the dimly lit corridor, it wasn't until she was about to turn the corner at the far end that she realised Lux was not following her. She spun round irritably to find the mage still framed in the doorway of their room, gawking at her with an infuriating smirk on her lips.

"What?" Katarina barked, struggling to control her temper, hands balled into fists at her sides and her old scar twitching ominously.

Lux stifled a giggle, the same high pitched sound that had always been so affective at driving Katarina into a frenzied rage – she had since learned to endure the sound, even to quite like it, but on this occasion it was doing little to help her stormy mood.

"Lux…" She growled threateningly.

"Right…yes… my apologies." Lux squeaked, still clearly struggling to contain her amusement.

When Lux was embarrassed she often slipped back into her old habits, and right now that sickening sense of propriety - that all Demacians had apparently had ingrained into them since birth, and that Lux had always had a particularly strong aptitude, and aversion for – was shining through so plainly that Lux may as well have been waving a Demacian flag and singing the national anthem…

Katarina usually found this highly amusing – the conflicted look in Lux's eyes when she caught herself doing it, the adorable way she wrinkled her nose and pouted with disappointment. It was like watching a robot fighting against its own programming and, in many ways, that's exactly what it was, but right now Katarina was not in the mood to find it anything other than irritating.

"It's just…well…I'm certainly not complaining Miss Du Couteau, but –

"SERIOUSLY?"

"–but you probably can't go outside dressed like that." Lux finished quickly, biting her bottom lip and looking fixedly down at the dusty stone floor.

"Oh." Katarina said weakly, all her anger and indignation fizzling away, like air, rushing from a punctured balloon. Her cheeks had flushed a deep shade of red, not dissimilar from that of her hair. At the other end of the hall, Lux's stoic politeness finally failed her, and she broke down in a fit of giggles.


	8. Epilogue: Part II

**Part II: Blood**

The street below was all but deserted, a father and son were tossing a ball back and forth in the dusty glow of a street lamp and a few stragglers were still packing away their stalls at the market, but no one seemed particularly interested in the two fair skinned girls passing by in the dusk.

Katarina, significantly more clothed but no less disgruntled than she had been several minutes ago, was traipsing along, slightly in Lux's wake. She looked about her shiftily as she walked, scouring the gloom for any sign of threat, staring daggers at any unfortunate soul who dared to so much as glance in their direction. She didn't like this one bit.

"Lux I don't like this one bit." She hissed, stumbling into the back of Lux as she eyed a particularly suspicious looking dustbin. The blonde girl ignored her, not so much as breaking her stride.

Somehow it managed feel even hotter than it had earlier, the air was muggy and unmoving, walking through it felt like wading through some sticky liquid. It was night - It wasn't very dark, but Katarina supposed it must be night; she couldn't see the sun anymore in any case. She couldn't really see anything. There was no sky to speak of, just walls of colourless heat pressing in from all sides. The glow of a thousand lamps, swirled through the dusty air, shrouding everything in a dull orange haze that made it difficult to distinguish between what was real and what was not.

"Lux I really don't like this." Katarina said again, trying to sound firm but falling a little short. Lux's continued silence was doing little to ease her jitters. Her hands were fidgeting restlessly at her sides, constantly searching for the comforting shape of her daggers before remembering that they weren't there.

Katarina had to quicken her pace to keep up as Lux disappeared round a corner, her long golden hair swishing out of sight.

"Where are we going anyway?" Katarina said, slightly breathlessly, as she caught up with the other girl.

"Who ever said we were going anywhere?" Lux replied with a light giggle.

"Ugh, why do you always have to be so fucking crypti-

Katarina stopped with a gasp as Lux took her by the hand, slender fingers slipping easily between her own.

"Are you crazy?" She stammered, mingled panic and excitement flooding through her body. "Not here! People will see…" But she didn't pull away. She could not bring herself to let go of Lux's hand. It felt so right.

She looked wildly all about them, half expecting crowds of gawping men to have materialized out of thin air, pointing, leering, laughing…She could see her father's face amongst the imaginary crowd, she could see the disappointment in his once handsome eyes, and feel the burning disgust in his gaze…

She felt the sudden, wild urge to release Lux's hand, to shove the other girl away, to attack her. It had been years since she had seen her father, there were thousands of miles between them, he was more than likely dead, lying buried in some forgotten mound of dirt – that's if there was enough of his body left to bury…And yet, even now, he was still able to make her feel so small, so inadequate… unnatural…

She hated him for it… Almost as much as she hated herself for feeling that way.

She held Lux's hand tighter than ever. She swallowed heavily, her throat impossibly dry. She threw back her mane of crimson hair and held her head high, blinking fiercely, her jade eyes ablaze. She would not cry.

They walked on in silence for a while, one ashen street blurring into the next. Katarina let Lux lead her. She was happy to submit to Lux's will, grateful for her gentle, guiding hand; it meant that she didn't have to think, and she didn't want to think right now. It was as much as she could manage to put one foot in front of the other, to keep on moving, pouring all of her energy and focus into the wonderful comforting warmth of Lux's skin against her own. She was terrified of the dark places her mind might take her if it was free to wander…she did not intent to let it.

Eventually, how much later she wasn't sure, the soothing sound of Lux's voice pulled Katarina from her trance, like cool water delicately splashing her skin.

"You were right Kat."

"Hmmm?" Katarina replied groggily, in no hurry to return to reality. Her brain slowly whirred back to life, noting her surroundings like an animal emerging after months of hibernation: the world was a shade darker, they were moving down an unlit street – more like an alley; the buildings were close on both sides, tall dark shapes looming over them; there were no people now; a cat – she very much hoped it was a cat - scurried away over a low wall as they passed…

"You were right." Lux said again, and then after a tentative pause she added, "About everything."

"I…I was?" Kat looked sideways at Lux in surprise.

"Of course you were!" Lux sighed.

Katarina blinked stupidly, her sluggish brain struggling to keep up. She was right apparently, that was good… or was it? What was she right about, because she certainly wasn't feeling very 'right' right now…In fact, she was feeling pretty damn lost.

"I didn't want to talk about it because I was scared of what you might do…" Lux stepped out in front of Katarina, walking backwards and gazing earnestly up into the other woman's face. She took Katarina's other hand so that she was holding them both. "I was scared that you might leave." She said. There was another heavy pause. Lux frowned; she took a deep breath, as though she was trying to build herself up for something. "You're not going to leave are you?" She asked in a quiet voice.

Katarina stopped dead, her confusion turning to shock turning to panic. Her hands jolted free of Lux's leaving her arms swinging clumsily at her sides. She was staring at Lux, wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Why would I leave?" She asked quickly, and something that felt suspiciously like a faint breeze whispered through the alley, flicking gently at the ends of her hair. She didn't notice it; all of her attention was focused on Lux.

The blonde girl looked down at the floor, standing very still, her hands clasped carefully in front of her.

"Because you're not happy." She murmered. "Because of everything you said earlier!"

There was a moments silence as Katarina processed this information; finally she started to understand…

"Oh Lux…" She whispered. At the sound of her name Lux glanced upwards, meeting Katarina's gaze, and this time there were definitely tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean…" She couldn't find the words so instead she flung her arms around the other girl and pulled her into a hard embrace.

Lux gave a squeal of surprise, but then her hands linked behind Katarina's waist and her head settled contentedly against her chest, soothed by the steady thud of her heart. She wished they could stay like that forever.

Eventually Katarina released her, instead taking her hands, and staring fiercely into her eyes. Lux shivered, her body suddenly aching cold without the other girl's arms holding her. This time they both felt the wind, and they heard it too, whipping between the buildings, tugging at their hair and the folds of their clothes. Somewhere in the distance there was a deep crack of thunder, still far away but they could feel its power pulsing and simmering through the still night air.

"I would rather die than leave you." Katarina said simply. "I'm happier with you than I ever thought possible. All that stuff I said earlier, it only matters because I have you! Without you I'm…" She searched around for the right word…

"Lost?" Suggested a deep, rough voice from somewhere over her shoulder; definitely not Lux's voice, "How very touching…"

Katarina whirled round, instinctively stepping in front of Lux, shielding her from view. The source of the voice was not immediately apparent, but then she saw him, a tall dark figure leaning coolly against a nearby wall, cloaked in shadow. The man wore some kind of hat, its wide brim completely obscuring his face, and a rather ragged looking coat, long and shapeless so that it trailed in the dust at his feet.

"You ladies shouldn't be wondering around the streets, not at this time…They say there's a storm coming you know?" He spoke with a thick, guttural accent that dripped with menace despite his pleasant, conversational air. He stepped out of the shadows for the first time, his head tilted towards the night sky with apparent interest, a hand outstretched before him, as though examining the air with his fingertips.

Katarina glimpsed his face, the whites of his eyes flashing in the darkness, tanned skin, and a sharp jaw line hidden beneath a dark, scraggly beard. He was almost certainly local. That surprised her, she had been expecting –

"What do you want?" Lux said warily, stepping out and standing shoulder to shoulder with Katarina.

"What do I want?" The man laughed. It was more of a bark, full mouthed and jarring in the otherwise silent streets, baring two rows of teeth that a wolf would have been proud of. One of his bottom teeth glinted unnaturally, bright as his eyes where some chunk of metal had replaced it.

"This is more of a democracy eh –

As he spoke several other figures emerged from the shadows, rapidly filling the cramped alleyway, forming a black wall of bulk behind the first man.

"What I want –

His keen eyes settled on Lux, a twisted smile on his lips. Katarina's fists clenched dangerously at her sides.

-might have to wait till later." He finished, his voice a low growl.

Katarina was about to charge at the man, her eyes blazing with cold, murderous fury, but she found Lux's hand gripping her arm.

"Let's get out of here." Lux whispered, calmly but firmly, the kind of voice that Katarina knew she was not allowed to disagree with. Reluctantly the assassin turned on her heel, ready to run, but even as she did so, more people poured into the far end of the alley, blocking their only route of escape. She turned again to find the other wall of people slowly closing in on them. They were surrounded, trapped, just how she liked it.

"Looks like we're gunna have to fight." Katarina said, hardly bothering to conceal her delight.

Lux sighed with exasperation, noticing the look of sheer joy on the red head's face and unsure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Either way she couldn't see any other way out of this situation…

"Oh I suppose so." Lux muttered in response, sounding much like a parent, grudgingly allowing their child to get an ice-cream. Katarina beamed at her and squeezed her hand affectionately.

"Thank you!" She said, almost tearful with gratitude, before turning her attention back to the advancing thugs. They were almost upon them.

"Nowhere to run beautiful." The man in the hat leered at her. "Don't worry, I promise we'll be gentle."

"I'm afraid I won't be." Katarina grinned, tossing back her fiery hair and cracking her knuckles threateningly.

Without waiting for a response she charged at them, catching them completely off guard. To them she was just prey, utterly helpless, certainly not a threat. To them she was just a feeble woman, small and unarmed. The last thing many of them saw was the blur of crimson as this 'feeble' woman swept towards them. Some of them laughed, others reached lazily for their weapons; only their leader stepped backward, the shock on his face twisting into a mask of wild, urgent dread. Too late he had seen the cold death in Katarina's eyes and the cruel confident smile on her blood red lips.

Katarina hurled herself into them, and at the same time Lux snapped her fingers, tendrils of blinding, brilliant light erupting from the very air and snaking its way around limbs and throats alike. It was almost too easy, the men rendered motionless, paralyzed by Lux's magic if not by their own shock and fear. One lone man managed to lunge, an enormous butcher's knife barely drawn from his belt before Katarina sent him reeling with a brutal kick to the chest. Even as he fell away she tore the knife from his white knuckled hand, and from that moment, it was truly over.

Katarina cut through the rest of the thugs as though they were paper, dancing her deadly, hypnotic dance, she slipped amongst them like smoke, leaving sprays of blood, where men had once stood in her wake.

Lux watched in silent, tantalized, awe, she was suddenly breathless, her lips suddenly dry. She watched as long as she could bare, and even then she found it impossibly hard to tear her eyes away from the bloody scene. Somehow, with a shudder, she managed it, turning instead to face their remaining attackers. From the other end of the alley, they could not see the full extent of their comrade's demise, and they were rushing foolishly to help.

Lux was shaking from head to foot, overwhelmed by what she had just witnessed. They should have fled; she thought desperately, the poor stupid bastards should have got the hell away from this place while they still could.

She almost pitied them as she felt that familiar sensation of magic surging through her body once more, pulsing in her veins and dancing on her skin. It calmed her, focused her mind on what she had to do.

With a strange wave of her hands she sent a ball of swirling light down the alleyway to meet the onrushing thugs. As it passed through them, all their movements slowed to a crawl, their arms and legs clawing against the air as though fighting against quicksand.

Lux could see the looks of confusion spreading, almost comically slowly across their faces. She tried not to see them, to look past the fear in their eyes and the sweat on their brows. She tried to steady herself for what was coming. She told herself that they deserved it, that it was better this way – better not to face the merciless designs of Katarina's blade…

She rose into the air, the magic within her so strong that it lifted her off her feet. She surrendered to it, let it own her. She drew it in like one great breath, and then…

"AHHHHHHHH!" She have an almighty scream, and flung both her hands forwards, letting the energy surge from her finger tips.

Even Katarina was drawn from her happy, bloody, reverie by the sound. She stood tall among the bodies of the fallen men, strewn haphazardly at her feet. The leader of the gang was the last man standing, and he was tearing away down the alley, long coat streaming behind him as he ran, his ridiculous hat lifted from his head by the wind, revealing a perfectly bald head that glinted like a mirror in the darkness. The perfect target.

Katarina didn't stop to aim. She didn't stop to see if the great butcher's knife found its mark. She already knew that it would.

She span around just in time to see am immense beam of pure, un-tempered light –such a violent shade of red that it put her hair to shame – exploding from Lux's trembling hands and carving a destructive path into the darkness.

"Woah." Katarina muttered under her breath, awestruck as ever by Lux's unlikely power.

Lux herself dropped gracefully to the ground. Her golden hair seemed to hang in the air, a moment longer than the rest of her body, before it too fluttered down and settled against her slender shoulders.

She didn't look back down the alley. She didn't see the thick, eerie smoke curling through the air. She certainly didn't see the dark, formless shapes stumbling around within it. She was trying very hard not to see anything at all. She stared straight ahead, her perfect blue eyes dazed and unfocused, fixed upon the column of light that marked the alleyways exit.

"Run." She said quietly as she passed Katarina. Contrary to Lux, the red head was very much staring. Her eyes were wide and there was mingled horror and admiration, and perhaps even a little jealousy, on her handsome features.

"But, Lux…" She began breathlessly.

"RUN!" Lux shouted over her shoulder, already emerging onto the main street.

For the second time in an hour, Katarina knew better than to argue, and with one last, wistful look about her, surveying the picture of beautiful devastation that they had made together, she set off at a jog after Lux.

With a grin she skipped over the body of the bald man - dull knife embedded in his shiny skull, hat lying sadly at his heel – and out into a far wider street. She looked left and right, searching for a glimmer of gold in the darkness.


	9. Epilogue: Part III

**Part III: Rain**

So much for laying low…when Lux had suggested a quiet evening walk this isn't quite what Katarina had envisioned – it had been infinitely more fun obviously, a bit of murder therapy had been just what she needed, but now that the blood rush had subsided, that familiar feeling of dirty regret was creeping over her. She was desperate to remain in her murderous afterglow just a little longer, to cling on to that heady, rapturous, satisfaction as long as she could…but she wasn't able to ignore the irritating, overwhelming truth; that they had fucked up. They had fucked up massively. They were supposed to be hiding out, blending in. They were certainly not supposed to be leaving alleyways full of blood and corpses and magic – even Evelynn would have balked at their lack of subtly…

The fact was that, short of parading up and down the street in skimpy bunny outfits, launching fireworks, playing mariachi music and handing out pamphlets with their names and pictures on, they couldn't have done much more to draw attention to themselves. Katarina could almost feel the net tightening around them. They were completely exposed here. She could feel her paranoia returning, invisible hands stretching out towards her from the shadows…

She shook herself, struggling to think clearly. Finally she spotted Lux, already a good distance away and getting further with every passing second. Katarina had to sprint flat out to catch her, and when eventually she drew level with the other girl, she was already breathing heavily.

She knew better than to try and talk, it was hard enough just trying to keep up. Lux was in a state of hysteria, running aimlessly as fast as her skinny legs could carry her, never looking back, as though some hideous monster was hunting her, snapping at her heels. Katarina thought she had a pretty good idea what that monster might be.

They were utterly lost, tearing down streets and alleys that were impossible to distinguish in the daylight let alone the black of night. The wind rushed in their ears as they ran, and their rasping breath and hammering feet sounded indecently loud in the empty streets. They were making far too much noise, drawing too much attention to themselves, every time they turned a corner Katarina expected to find more of the thugs lying in wait… or soldiers, or guards, or assassins, or anyone, it felt like all of Runterra was against them, hunting them. It was her and Lux against the world.

They ran and ran, but they didn't see another soul. The winding streets were completely deserted. The night traders pushing their less than legal goods, the furtive lovers groping at each other in the shadows, the vast swarms of drunks staggering rowdily in and out of the taverns, even the beggars that huddled in doorways beneath mounds of tattered blankets; all these people, that were usually so unavoidable, stalking the streets till the early hours of the morning, were tonight conspicuous only in their absence. The buildings were barricaded shut, doors barred, candle light flickering faintly behind heavily shuttered windows. The place was a ghost town. Very they soon found out why.

As they ran, the storm finally broke. The heavens opened and rain hammered down from unseen clouds; hot, fat, rain drops pelted them and everything else, spitting off the stone and turning the dusty road to sludge beneath their feet.

A wild wind tore through the lonely city, destructive and indiscriminate, like some ancient beast stirring after centuries of sleep. It howled with anger, its countless unseen claws tearing at anything it could reach.

They were still running, fighting the wind, a raggedy child's doll was swept along in the gutter beside them and a market stall splintered and collapsed as they passed.

Thunder stalked their manic progress, as though the sky was a great slab of ice, cracking and splintering above their heads. It seemed to speed up as they sped up, a deep aching rumble that echoed the beat of their own furious hearts.

Within minutes they were completely soaked, Katarina's hair was plastered to her face and her clothes hung heavy on her bones. Still Lux refused to stop running. It was getting harder and harder to follow her. Katarina was exhausted, the relentless water beating down upon her frame sapping her of what energy she had left. She kept losing her footing and she could barely see, her vision was a mess of grey and scarlet as her lank hair whipped against her face.

All she could do was follow the tiny flecks of gold that every so often cut through the gloom. It was like she'd died and an angel was leading onwards, guiding her through this nightmarish place to whatever came next. Maybe she had died.

And then the running stopped. Just like that. Katarina skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding Lux who was doubled over, leaning heavily on her knees, coughing and spluttering into the dirt. Katarina laid a gentle hand on her shoulder before almost collapsing herself. She staggered to one side, panting for breath, almost buffeted over by the wind and rain. Her lungs were screaming, her muscles were burning, the sky suddenly lit up, a flash of brilliant white that caught and sparkled in every glittering rain drop.

Katarina saw for the first time where they were, and she understood why Lux had finally stopped running. She had simply run out of room to run.

They were standing at the edge of a huge circular pool. It was sunken deep into the ground, the inky black surface of the water alive with ripples in the fierce rainfall. They had come to the centre of it all, the city's beating heart. This was the same waterhole – lake seemed like a better word – that had given birth to the whole wretched place, it was the sole reason life could exist in this god forsaken desert at all, and yet here it was, just sitting there in this massive featureless square, unmarked, unguarded, unassuming.

If this were Noxus there would be flags everywhere, great statues built in its honour, soldiers stationed there around the clock. The rich would have their mansions built at its perimeter and the poor would flock there in wonder.

Fuck Noxus; Katarina thought, angry at herself for even thinking about her estranged home.

Katarina swept her sodden hair off her face and turned her head towards the sky. She shut her eyes and let the rain wash over skin, sucking greedily at the cool, fresh air. After the weeks of stifling heat it was almost blissful.

"Fuck Noxus." She muttered under her breath.

It felt good, really good, to say it out loud… after all this time. Adrenaline was surging though her body, she could actually feel the blood, rushing through her veins, and her heart – her heart was pounding madly against her chest, faster and faster, like a wild animal was trying to smash its way free…she felt like she might explode, she felt lightheaded, drunk, fearless…

"FUCK NOXUS!" She suddenly yelled, her voice swallowed by the storm. She gasped, eyes wide with skittish excitement, and then again, even louder, " **FUCK NOXUS!"** She threw her arms up towards the sky, spinning round and round on the spot, daring the heavens themselves to stop her. There was a great crash of thunder, louder than any yet, and the sky ignited with blinding white light. " **FUCK YOU TOO!** " She screamed up at the infinite, writhing blackness, and then she started to laugh, wild, euphoric, maniacal laughter that didn't stop. Her skin shone and her eyes sparkled. She was higher than she had ever been. She was unstoppable. She was alive.

Beside her Lux was getting unsteadily back to her feet, her shoulders drooped, her arms hanging limply at her sides, her golden hair cascading down over her pale cheeks. She watched quietly, somberly, as the redhead twirled and danced and laughed in the rain.

Katarina noticed Lux watching and squealed with delight. She rushed over, still giggling, to where Lux stood. Carefully she brushed Lux's hair away from her face, her touch gentle despite her exuberant energy. She gazed into Lux's eyes and took her by the hands.

"Dance with me." She whispered.

Lux opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. She tried to look away but she couldn't do it. She was spellbound, her eyes lost in an ocean of endless, shimmering jade. And then they were dancing, or rather, Katarina was dancing and Lux was allowing herself to be led, pulled and pushed and twirled, floating in the other girls strong arms, safe in her supple hands.

-those same hands that had viciously torn the life from so many that night…

Suddenly Lux was crying, weeping, her tears mingling with the rain that steaked down her face, her chin falling against her chest.

They stopped moving. Katarina released her hands. The thunder eased slightly above their heads, as though the world were holding its breath. She understood.

"You have always known who I am – what I am." Katarina said quietly. Lux looked up but didn't say anything, her bottom lip still trembling, tears clinging to her long eyelashes. "I thought you had accepted it." She added, her voice hollow, no trace of humour in it now. Her heart had slowed so much that it might have frozen in her chest, suddenly the rain felt cold against her skin and the wind biting.

"I have," Lux replied, "I had…"

"I never chose to become this person, I never had any choice about anything…I thought you, of all people, understood that."

"I do." Lux pleaded, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. Katarina looked down at the floor, watching the rain splashing at her feet, brilliant red hair thrashing across her face.

"I saw the way you looked at me…when I killed those people."

"I –I killed them as well." Lux said darkly.

There was a long silence, even the noises of the storm seemed somehow muffled, as though they were part of a different world.

"They had no idea who we are did they?" Katarina asked eventually, although she already knew the answer.

"No." Lux replied.

"They weren't Noxians or Demacians-

"No."

"They weren't assassins or soldiers… they weren't anyone!"

"No." Lux said, and she saw the distant look in Katarina's eyes, as close to guilt as she had ever seen the other girl get. "But they were still bad people Kat – awful people!" She said, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, and trying hard to sound reassuring. "God knows what they would have done to us if we hadn't fought them."

"Oh I know **exactly** what they would have done." Katarina said with a grim laugh. Lux shuddered.

"Exactly." Lux reached out and squeezed Katarina's hand, and the other woman gave her a weak smile. "You didn't – we didn't have a choice."

"It seems like we never have any choice." Katarina mumbled miserably, and then suddenly she was angry, her voice raw and forceful. "I am so fucking tired of feeling powerless – of having no control over my own miserable life!" She ran both her hands through her wild hair and left them there, kneading her frazzled brain. "We are never going to escape them Lux…" She said, desperation edging into her voice. "How can we ever escape them when we belong to them…wherever we go, however far we run, they will be there because **WE** are **THEM!** " She was shouting now, becoming more and more manic, eyes popping, scar twitching - "They made us! Every little thing, every last, tiny, detail – designed by **them** (she spat the word, her voice dripping with disgust), for **their** purpose. A tool in their endless, worthless feud…We're not real people…"

Her voice cracked and all her wild, towering, anger simply died, in a single shuddering breath. Her spirit died with it and suddenly she was just a girl, a scared and vulnerable, girl, lost, drowning in the black heart of a storm.

She gave Lux a haunting, fleeting glance, black rain streaking down her beautifully tragic face, and silver tears brimming in her eyes. She blinked furiously, shaking her head, fighting against the immense weight of her hopelessness – but it was beating down upon her, fast and heavy as the rain, a flood of icy black water that rose and rose until it consumed her…

"I don't know who I am Lux." She said, and every word was a struggle, her voice a contorted, fractured whisper, almost unrecognizable, as she teetered on the edge of collapse. "I- I can feel **Noxus** , like a fucking parasite, burrowed deep in my brain, always there-

She flinched, as though in enormous pain, her eyelids fluttering briefly closed.

-I can't ever be truly free… How could I?" Katarina finished, staring into Lux's eyes, silently, desperately, pleading.

Lux met her gaze. She had listened, captivated in horror, to the other woman's words. She had felt them in her heart; they were cold and sharp and all too familiar. They were words that she had known, deep down, to be true ever from the very first moment she had laid eyes on the beautiful Noxian girl, with her ruby hair, and her emerald eyes…

"You're right." She said, and much to her surprise, she was utterly calm, her eyes unblinking, her voice steady. "You're completely right." She was fighting the overwhelming urge to embrace Katarina, to kiss her, to hold her and never let go…she knew it would not help. "I feel exactly the same way you do…"

"Then why are you so fucking calm?" Katarina burst out. "We can't ever win! There's no point…to anything!"

"But do you not see?" Lux said, still overwhelmingly calm - irritatingly calm.

"NO! NO I DON'T FUCKING SEE!" Katarina cried.

Lux smiled at her, a smile that seemed to sooth the raging skies, to part the walls of rain, to melt away the darkness, and Katarina, although she didn't understand why, felt the faintest glimmer of hope in her heart.

"I feel the same way…" Lux said. " **We,** are the same…"

"So?" Katarina asked breathlessly. "What difference does that make?

"It makes all the difference in the world!" Lux said eagerly. "You and I… Noxus and Demacia…We should be as different as two people can be, and yet-

"We're not… We're exactly the same." Katarina finished. "But what does that mean?"

It means," Lux began, the smile spreading wider across her face, her bright blue eyes shining like stars in the darkness, "that in spite of everything you've ever known, or been told, or even thought was wise - you're here, right now, with me. That is who you really are Kat."

"But…" Katarina began, looking thoroughly confused.

"You are a girl who gave up everything for a chance at friendship with someone you barely knew - someone you ought to have hated! - just because it felt right… because you recognized my lonely soul…because you wanted something that they would never let you have."

Lux took a deep breath before continuing.

"You are so much more than Noxus Kat…" Lux said, and there were tears swelling in her own eyes now, but behind those tears there was a blazing, steadfast conviction that warmed Katarina's very soul. "You are unlike any person I have ever known, and I wouldn't change a single thing about you. I know that we may never truly escape our past. We may never get to live ordinary lives. We might be fighting against those who would keep us apart for as long we live…but I don't care. I have more than I ever deserved –more than I ever hoped for! I have you, Kat. We are together, and honestly, that's enough."

They were so close now; Katarina could feel Lux's breath, warm on her skin, she was wilting under Lux's intense gaze but she could not tear her eyes away. The golden haired girl seemed to glow before her, emanating pure, terrifying power. She looked dangerous. She looked stunning. Their fingers intertwined seemingly of their own accord, and their hearts beat in unison.

When Lux spoke again her voice was deadly soft, barely more than a whisper, but to Katarina it sounded louder than the rain, the wind and the thunder put together.

"And while there is breath in my body and blood in my veins, I will fight anyone who dares to try and keep us apart. Demacia, Noxus, I'll fight the whole damn world if I have to…There are times were it might seem impossible, but the girl I fell in love with has never once backed down from a fight and she is not fighting alone anymore. We will never let them control us Kat…We will never stop fighting, and we will beat them. Together."

Katarina was stunned, for several seconds too stunned to speak. Lux's voice was still ringing in her ears. She didn't feel the rain still beating down upon them, or the wind howling though the square. Even the boom of the thunder seemed tame and childish after the raw power of Lux's words.

Finally she managed to find the wherewithal to speak, and she said the only thing she possibly could have.

"I fucking love you Luxanna Crownguard." She uttered breathlessly, eyes burning fiercely.

For several seconds they just stared intensely at each other, sharing in the wild energy and emotion of the moment, two souls become one.

Eventually Lux blinked, shaking herself slightly as though awakening from some kind of trance. She looked around them nervously, her eyes straining against the gloom, realising, properly, for the first time where they were.

"Let's go Kat." She whispered. "We can't stay here…"

Katarina did not reply, instead a wicked smile crept onto her lips. Lux's watchful eyes stopped in their sweep of the square and settled on the other girl's grin. She looked puzzled, frowning slightly, all too familiar with that dangerous glint in the red heads eye.

She opened her mouth to ask, 'just what was so amusing', but even as the words were rising in her throat Katarina gave her an almighty shove and she went flying backwards through the air, arms flailing madly, eyes wide with shock.

Time seemed to freeze. Katarina was grinning wildly, her arms still extended. Lux was suspended comically above the surface of the jet black water, her jaw flapping uselessly open and shut. Even the rain seemed to hang, for a moment, motionless in the air but then everything burst into chaotic life once more.

Lux smashed against the water and instantly disappeared beneath its fizzing, swelling surface. Her head span as she sunk into the impenetrable darkness. The world was suddenly muted, water surging all around her. She could hear the rain hammering against the surface of the pool somewhere far above her head, and faint, but no less manic laughter which could only belong to Katarina, still ringing in her ears. Her own yell of panic and confusion was lost in the inky blackness, reduced to no more than a great stream of bubbles rushing from her lips.

She remerged finally, smashing through the water and out into the stormy night air, no more elegantly than she had entered it several seconds early. She gasped desperately for air, purple in the face, as much from rage as from lack of air, with her long blonde hair trailing behind her in the water and her skinny arms flapping madly as she struggled to stay afloat.

Katarina was still standing casually at the edge of the pool, watching her endeavours with apparent interest. She had finally stopped laughing but she still wore a broad, insufferably smug grin all over her pretty face.

"Don't forget to kick." She suggested sweetly, folding her arms across her chest as Lux's white face disappeared briefly beneath the water once more.

"You absolute fuc- there was a huge crash of thunder and a rush of wind that sent Lux spinning in the thrashing water, she was hurled about like a ragdoll, completely at the mercy of the waves until the wind finally died down – bitch!" She spluttered angrily, water spurting from her mouth. "What the hell was that for?" She whirled around, disoriented, squinting her guys against the torrential rain and glaring in Katarina's vague direction.

The red head simply shrugged.

"Let them find us." She said in a sultry voice, her green eyes twinkling at Lux through the gloom.

Even in her sate of high indignation, from her precarious position bobbing in the water, Lux could not help but flush and bite her bottom lip.

She quickly forgot what she was angry about and could only watch, spellbound, as Katarina began to peel off her sodden clothes, slowly revealing the perfectly toned body beneath. Lux's heart skipped a beat as the other girl slipped, impossibly gracefully, out of her tight leather trousers, exposing inch after endless inch of her long, elegant legs.

Lux's jaw actually fell open at this point, promptly filling with water and sending her spluttering beneath the surface once again. By the time she recovered this time, Katarina was fully undressed, standing only in her underwear at the waters edge, clothes and boots neatly piled at her side.

Even if Lux hadn't recently swallowed several gallons of stagnant water she would still have been just as breathless. Her eyes were wide and eager, unsure where to look, flitting quickly from one spot to the next, as though trying to memorize every tiny detail of the woman before her, so that she might never forget her image again.

Katarina's pale skin sparkled in the darkness; her damp, blood red hair was tumbling in a single wave over her shoulder and down to her skinny waist. Her body was surely as close to perfect as was possible; slight and dainty, yet powerful and strong; slender yet curvaceous.

Lux lips were suddenly somehow dry despite being surrounded by endless water, and she was acutely aware of her heart, thudding violently in her chest.

Just looking at the other girl made Lux feel sinful; lust and jealously and greed, and all those things that she had been told her whole life that she simply must not feel, were suddenly all she knew, like a rich heady alcohol in her blood, rushing straight to her brain.

She was feeling lightheaded, her thoughts vague and her limbs were clumsy. She was drowning in delirious desire and if she wasn't careful, it would end up actually drowning her.

Even with so much else to look at however, Lux eyes were continuously drawn to Katarina's face, to her sparkling jade eyes and her full red lips. Her expression was entirely unassuming, even, perhaps, a little nervous. She was completely unaware of the wild effect she was having on her friend.

The Sinister Blade could wipe out an entire platoon of Demacian soldiers in under five seconds, yet when it came to things like…this, she was like a child, stumbling about in the sun for the first time; blind, timid and confused. There was a grace to her gracelessness. She was so exquisitely oblivious to the sheer power of her own beauty, and to Lux, this was the most beautiful thing of all.

She had never loved anything more.

"Well…move over then." Katarina mumbled, blushing deeply, all the confidence glaringly absent from her voice. Lux heart did a somersault as she swam hastily out of the way, never taking her eyes of the other girl.

Katarina stepped forwards, taking a deep breath, toes curling over the stone lip of the pool. Lux took the breath with her, and she found she could not let go, it caught in her throat as she watched the red head. Her heart was aching with anticipation, and then without warning, Katarina leapt high into the air, tucking her legs up to her chest before plummeting down into the water like a cannon ball.

She hit the water with a loud splash, wave after wave sent rumbling across the silky black water, for several seconds completely filling Lux's vision, and then, suddenly, they were face to face.

Katarina pushed her mane of hair off her face and gave Lux a soft smile, the pool still rocking gently in her wake, and the rain, noticeably milder now, pattering down all around them. The red head was barely even breathing heavily, Lux on the other hand wasn't breathing at all.

Katarina opened her mouth to speak, only to let out a muffled gasp as she found Lux's lips pressed against her own, soft and tender. She did not pull away, instead she smiled into the kiss, her surprise quickly forgotten and replaced by warm bliss. Her eyes fluttered closed of their own accord.

Their hearts began to beat that much faster, and their movements quickly followed suit. Lux's touch became heavier and more urgent, her teeth nipped hungrily at Katarina's lips and her tongue probed at the entrance to her mouth, becoming ever more intrepid. They were rapidly losing all control.

Lux's arms slinked around Katarina's shoulders and crossed behind her neck, her fingers winding their way into a forest of crimson hair. Their bodies were pressed close together, lost in each other's warmth; their feet were tangled beneath the water. Katarina reached out tentatively towards the straps of Lux's dress and she began to lift it, fingers fumbling in their haste, up over Lux's head. It had barely come free of Lux's ruffled blonde hair and then…

They were drowning, slipping suddenly below the surface, cold water rushing between them, forcing them apart. It streamed up their noses and invaded their open mouths, threatening to fill their tired lungs. Their passion was stolen from them in the crushing, animal panic; their intimacy lost amongst the thrashing limbs and raging bubbles.

Kat was first to recover, somehow breaking through the surface and purging her choked lungs with wonderful, clear air. Her first and only instinct was to save Lux. She reached down blindly with one hand, keeping herself afloat with the other, and grabbed for any part of Lux she could reach. She cried out with mingled triumph and relief as her straining fingers closed around the other woman's skinny arm. She pulled with all her might, terrified by how heavy Lux felt - impossibly heavy, her tiny frame was like a deadweight. It was as though the murky water was a living, breathing thing, and it was reluctant to relinquish its prize, intent on dragging her back down into its impenetrable depths. At last, with a strength born of desperation, Katarina managed to haul Lux free.

The mage, coughing and spluttering, gasping for air, immediately threw herself at Katarina almost forcing them both back underwater. She clung to her hysterically, like some crazed monkey, arms and legs alike wrapped tightly around the taller woman's torso.

"L-Lux-gerroff!" Katarina garbled, struggling to support both their weights, water lapping around her face, grimacing as she felt Lux's fingernails clawing into her back.

Somehow, even with Lux fastened to the top half of her body like a huge blonde limpet, Katarina managed to kick and lunge and flap through the water, and by some miracle get them both to the safety of the pool's edge.

With difficulty she prized Lux away from her and deposited her against the stone bank. Only once she was certain Lux was not going to slip under again did she allow herself to relax a little. She breathed a huge sigh of relief and reclined backwards into the water, allowing herself to float serenely on her back gazing up at the night sky. In her state of utter exhaustion she didn't even notice that the rain had finally stopped, and slivers of deep royal purple were visible for the first time behind the wall of black cloud.

She closed her eyes, grateful for the moment of tranquillity, her chest rising and falling softly. The water of the pool was suddenly unrecognizable, perfectly calm, a great stretching sheet of deep, velvety, blue. It was even quite warm, the last legend of the weeks of immense, unwavering heat lingering still within its watery heart, unmoved by the efforts of the storm. It cradled Katarina, gently splashing at her skin, and soothing her aching limbs.

Lux's voice roused her from her reverie.

"Well…" She began, her voice hoarse. "That wasn't the smartest of ideas…" She met Katarina's eye sheepishly, her flushed cheeks a stark contrast to the rest of her milky white flesh. She was holding on to the edge of the pool with one hand, low in the water in a rather meagre effort to protect her modesty – her dress was now floating abandoned somewhere in the middle of the lake.

Katarina was upright again, easily treading water. She shook the hair off her face distractedly. She was gawking unashamedly at Lux, in particular, at her body, which was almost completely obscured, little more than a shimmering white phantom beneath the water. There was a strange expression on the red head's face, somewhere between incredulity and awe, a single fine eyebrow arched, and a mischievous smirk on her lips. When she spoke her voice was low and breathless – slightly dreamy even.

"Are you wearing – have you not got – you're not nak-

"Oh God. Kat!" Lux exclaimed anxiously, teasing her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes glazed over vaguely, briefly losing herself in thought before returning to reality with a shudder. She swallowed. "Eww, no! Of course I'm not…" Her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink and she squirmed beneath the water, twisting her arm awkwardly in front of her, trying to cover herself up. "No more than you are in any case!" She squeaked indignantly. Katarina merely smiled, a deviant glint in her eye.

For a moment they just gazed coyly at each other – They were a Noxian and a Demacian, bobbing, up to their shoulders, half naked in this bizarre lake…In the middle of this very public square…In the centre of this strange, foreign city…oh and they were HALF NAKED. ALMOST COMPLETELY DEVOID OF CLOTHES. How the hell that they ended up here.

It seemed like they were both thinking the same thing, both struck simultaneously by the same blunt realization. Self-awareness washed over them like the water they swam in, the sheer ridiculousness of their situation, the freakish turn that their once rigidly ordered lives had taken…

Neither girl spoke. They didn't have to. There were simply no appropriate words. No words that could do it justice – this bizarre journey that they were on together. It was an odyssey… ever growing, ever changing, like a great old tree, its unlikely beginnings, sprouting forth from a soil of blood and hate and fear, but above all, love. It had no apparent end, no neat conclusion, no happy ever after. It would always be this way…bizarre and treacherous and wonderful, only ending when they ended, when they breathed their final breaths. It might be days, it might be months, it might be years… it would certainly be too soon.

It had brought them miles from their homes. It had brought them all across the vast landscape of Runterra, mountains and cities and forests…It had brought them here…To treading water in their underwear in this vast basin of water, beneath a beautiful mosaic sky of blue and purple and black, and even silver – the moon had emerged at last from behind the clouds, bathing everything in a cool, sliver light that twinkled on the surface of the water and sparkled in their hair. A perfect full moon, just like that night at the docks where this had all began.

There were no words. Instead they began to laugh, impish grins on their faces, eyes locked with each other, blue and green linked in the moonlight. Their uncontrollable, girlish, giggling was the only sound; the city around them was completely still, the night was completely still. The world was theirs.

Eventually, after what felt like an age, just as their ribs were beginning to hurt, they stopped laughing. The silence was sudden and total. Katarina bit her lip and tilted her head, a hand sweeping through her brilliant crimson hair out of habit.

"So…" She said softly, gazing up at Lux through her dark eyelashes. That familiar smirk appeared on her face, these days it was almost as distinctive as her scar. She waited just long enough for the pause to feel poignant before continuing. "What now?"

Lux arched her back beneath the water, and flashed Katarina her most alluring smile. Her blue eyes were glittering bright as the moon. Slowly, she opened her mouth to reply…

 **The End**

 **(** **A/N: Yes, it's another cliff-hanger! I'm sorry I just really like cliffhangers :/. If you made it this far thanks so much for reading, I have really enjoyed writing Lux and Katarina's story and I am a little sad to have finished, but I hope, at least, that I did the original story justice and gave these girls an ending that they deserved (and the one we all wanted!). As always any feedback is appreciated, I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Kat + Lux 4eva 3**

 **Ps. Oh, one last thing. This is the first time I have tried to do the whole 'sexy' thing in my writing and I honestly have no idea how it turned out, I hope its not too awkward or cringey :p)**


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